Tony demands forestry action

NEWS RELEASE

TONY MARTIN, MP

************************** NDP MPs and MPPs demand forestry action

THUNDER BAY, ON - (December 16) - NDP MPs and MPPs from across Northern Ontario are demanding immediate federal and provincial government action to deal with Northern Ontario’s growing forestry jobs crisis.

The NDP legislators are calling for a host of measures designed to sustain forestry jobs and provide assistance to those workers facing job losses, including: implementation of an industrial hydro rate; creation of a jobs protection commissioner; establishment of a federal loan guarantee program for struggling companies; and an overhaul of the Employment Insurance (EI) program.

An immediate solution is to fix the unfair present EI program, Sault MP Tony Martin said.

“Ontario workers have suffered disproportionately in the reduction of benefits and limiting coverage. Over the past 20 years, successive Conservative and Liberal governments have slowly dismantled our employment insurance system,” Martin said.

Ontario NDP Leader and Kenora-Rainy river MPP Howard Hampton joined two local NDP MPs here Monday, noting: “We are here today because we are worried about what has happened, and what will happen, to Ontario’s forestry sector if the provincial and federal governments do not take action.”

“While the rest of Canada is just starting to see the impact of a looming recession, Northern Ontario has been struggling for years with devastating job losses in the forestry sector. That’s why we’re calling for these practical measures,” said Thunder Bay - Rainy River MP John Rafferty.

**************************