QUEEN’S PARK — Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky said today in the legislature that she and her NDP colleagues won’t stop fighting until a solution is reached for the 1,500 auto workers at the Fiat Chrysler Windsor assembly plant whose jobs are on the chopping block.
Until recently, Ontario provided a Green Vehicle Rebate for people that purchased the Pacifica, but Doug Ford cancelled that program.
“Those 1,500 workers and their families have had their financial security ripped away, and the Ford government is throwing up its hands, leaving them in the lurch,” said Gretzky. “After strong advocacy from my federal NDP colleagues, the federal government has included the Pacifica Hybrid in their smaller, federal rebate program — but it doesn’t make up for what Ford scrapped here in Ontario.
Gretzky, standing with Windsor-Essex MPPs Percy Hatfield (Windsor-Tecumseh) and Taras Natyshak (Essex), said that instead of taking away a program that helped Pacifica sales and hurt the auto sector in Ontario, Ford should have been looking for ways to shore up the long-term prospects of the auto industry in Ontario. “There are several options for the Ford government to support Windsor assembly plant workers, such as bringing back the electric vehicle rebate, working with Fiat Chrysler Windsor, Unifor and the workers to secure a new product for the plant to build on their full flex line and developing a provincial auto strategy,” Gretzky said.
“Windsorites deserve a government that fights to keep their auto jobs. We will keep talking to workers and their families, and continue to fight, until a solution is reached for our community.”