“Late yesterday afternoon, I learned about Maple Leaf Foods closing the Ayr poultry plant, resulting in the loss of 175 jobs. This is a significant blow to the families of those who work at the plant, to the village of Ayr, and to everyone in Cambridge and North Dumfries.
The food processing industry is one of the largest industries in Ontario, second only to the auto industry. The riding of Cambridge and North Dumfries is at the heart of this industry. The Ontario Alliance of Food Processors is head quartered in Cambridge. In addition, the new Cambridge campus of Conestoga College is the location of the new state of the art, Institute for Food Processing Technology. I want to stress that our area remains a worthwhile place to work and invest in the food processing sector, and I am hopeful that a suitable buyer of the Ayr facility can be found.
However, the closure of the Ayr poultry plant is the latest example of the hollowing out of Ontario’s manufacturing sector. High government regulation and energy prices are crippling businesses from succeeding in Ontario. I continue to call on the government to change course. We need to create a competitive business climate that nurtures job growth in the private sector. We need to ensure that we have a highly trained workforce so that people can find and retain good jobs. We also need to get the government’s debt crisis under control if we ever hope to offer our citizens of today and of future generations the kind of opportunities that allow everyone to be contributing members of our community. As your Member of Provincial Parliament, I will continue to advocate for these changes so that Cambridge and North Dumfries continues to be the best place to raise a family” – Rob Leone, MPP for Cambridge and North Dumfries.