WINDSOR – Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky says Doug Ford’s Fall Economic Statement fails to deliver the help families in Windsor need as layoffs grow and the cost of living keeps rising.
“People in Windsor are doing everything they can to stay afloat,” said Gretzky. “We have the highest unemployment rate in the country. Workers are being laid off or having their hours cut. Groceries, rent and utilities are going up. Families needed to see something real today, and they simply did not get it. Food bank use is at an all-time high, with many families needing to decide whether to pay rent or their mortgage or buy groceries. There was no mention of Intimate Partner Violence or Gender-based Violence which we’re seeing increasing in alarming numbers.”
Windsor has been through hard economic moments before, yet there is still no plan from the provincial government to stabilize jobs or support the workers and industries the region relies on. Rather than a strategy to protect auto and manufacturing jobs, all the government offered were recycled announcements and more short-term measures that don’t address the crisis.
“Windsor built Ontario’s auto sector and we cannot ignore that,” said Gretzky. “We want to keep building here. But you don’t protect jobs with press conferences. You protect jobs by backing local manufacturing, small businesses and the workers who keep this community moving. None of that was in the Fall Economic Statement.”
Gretzky says Windsor families need the province to show up with a real plan: protecting and creating good auto and manufacturing jobs, investing in public health care and education so services don’t fall apart, making life more affordable, and helping municipalities like Windsor keep people housed instead of pushing families closer to crisis.
“Windsor is strong. Our people are strong. But we need a government that meets this moment,” said Gretzky. “This statement missed the mark. Families here deserve better than being left to figure it out on their own.”