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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1986-10-01, Page 5a Auto pact protection needed to secure future To the ealor: Perth M.P. Harry Brightwell, recently hosted a meeting of Perth County auto parts manufacturers, auto dealers and of- Ficials from the Federal Department of Regional and Industrial Expansion. The meeting was designed to air the con- cerns of local auto manufacturers .nd dealers regarding the future of the Cana- dian automotive industry. Data ftom the Cana. Tan Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association (MVMA) shows how important this Canadian in- dustry is to Canada, and particularly to south western Ontario. The auto industry accounts for one of every seven manufacturing jobs and for 10 per cent of manufacturing exports. Direct auto employment of 130,000 generates 44,00O other jobs in auto manufacturing component production and spin-off effects throughout Canada, Auto manufacturing, for instance, ac-. counts for 14 per cent of iron foundry pie - duction, 11 per cent -of rubber, 7 per cent of machine. shop production, 9 per cent of wire products, 6 per cent of carpeting 'and fabrics, 6 per cent of processed aluminum goods, 9 per cent of glass products and 20 per cent of steel shipments, • Spending on goods and services is. $13 billion per .year or over $1,000 for every •person in Canada per year. In addition, investment since 1980 is a further $12 billion, - The key to the strength of the Canada's auto manufacturing and its spinoff effects is the auto pact. In Canada the auto pat requires 60 per cent Canadian content. Also, production to sales ratio requirement of 1:1 means $10,000 in Canadian production re-: quirements for each $10,000 in sales in' Canada. In the IJS. the auto pact requires 50 per cent North American content Compliance with these requirements eliminates 'cross border (Canada -U.S.) duty. Cat companies in Canada operating under the auto -pact are American Motors; ChryslerFord, General Motors and Volvo. Importers of vehicles are not required by the 'governments of Canada and the U.S. to comply with rules of the auto pacts. Importers currently account for a minori- ty of -vehicle sales about 30 per cent With 428,000 jobs created by 70 per cent TO of the 'market, each I per cent mathematically cquld. be said to mean about 6,000 jobs in Canada, the majority of which are in Ontario. A number of import companies are now moving in Canada with kit assembly of their products. They plan to bring in their own parts, and some of their own workforce, without falling under the guidelines of the auto pact. In short, they wish to sell in our coun- try, but not provide additional jobs in the marketplace. These companies are Hyundai, Honda and Toyota. Each 1 per cent increase in • their sales will result in the loss of 6,900° jobs in Ontario - jobs for people who may be your friends and neighbours, ' The auto industry in Canada has shown it can manufacture better products with better efficiency than the importers. A survey of auto engineers in the world • rates Mercedes No. 1, G.M. No. 2 and Ford • No. 3, with Asian importers trailing. • Asian vehicles have performed poorly in government sponsored crash tests and in some countries last only, one third as long • as North American produced vehicles. In addition, North American dollar sales per employee are 50 per cent higher than Japanese importers and 200 per 'cent higher than Korean importers, These are two ways that we as Cana- dians can keep these 428,000 jobs intact and possibly increase them. One, as consumers, is to buy products built by companies concerned.. about • employment in Canada - those companies that fall under the auto pact:. AMC), o Chrysler, Ford, GM, Volvo.and Suzuki (in • 1!T1189)e. other is to apply pressure to our governments to put pressure on these .other companies not following auto pact "guidelines. Let's keep our country strong. Chris West^ St. Marys Eater's Note; Mr. West is the owner of Downtown Pontiac -Buick in St. Marys. To the Editor: The Lucknow Block Parents would like to thank all those who took part in the child finger -printing program that was held Saturday September 27 at the ,Lucknow town hall. Approximately 140 youngsters had their fingerprints documented. A special thank you is extended to Constable Andy Burgess of the Kincardine detach- ment of the OPP. Thank you for making this event a success. The block parents will be holding a bake sale on Saturday October 18 at the Lucknow Legion from 11 to 3. Anyone wishing to become ablock parent please . contact Marguirete Sanderson or Barb Helm, Hospital hires consultant Approval for the hiring of a consultant to conduct a $23,000 tole study of the Wing - ham and District Hospital was given by the hospital's board of governors 'Wednes- day. ), The decision testi) ted from a management committee recommendation which was included in the committee's re- port presented at the September board meeting by Dr. Brian Hanlon, committee chairman. Dr. Hanlon, who is iso board vice. chairman, told board m rnbers the study would concentrate on th . 1,1 al's needs and the direction in which the institution should proceed. He said the study is a worth*hile project, The firm recommended by the management committee to undertake the study had indicated it could do so as °early as this fall, Dr. Hanlon said. The consulting firm of David Coulson and Associates of Toronto was given the board's approval to prepare wjuit Exeeu. tive Director Norman Hayes termed a "strategy plan based on what they can find out in terms of the demographics of the area," Mr, Hayes said the study could look at areas in the hospital which are not now cost effective and make suggestions based on the findings. The hospital's maternity and intensive .eare units were two such areas, he said. ° De, Hanlon pointed out to board mein. bete' thaf 6ieri if the study did pinpoint an area of service as not being cost effective it would not necessarily mean that the hos- pital would discontinue that seryiee, Instead; the hospital could ' choose to continue that service "simply as a serviee to the community,'he said. The last role study for the hospital was done in 1977 at a cost of $8,000 and some board members pointed out Wednesday that the hospital has followed the direc- tions which were laid out in that study. However, they also felt that since there are no more directions from the 1977 docu- ment on which to act, the time for a new role study is now. LtlegMAT Seatine17 We, esdoy, October 12 19S6—Page 5 SUNVIORIVINI CIUDED Spit J S * FABRICS t101 N J11 Es Hodgins (Wingham) Ltd. • 11 North St, E., WINGHAM - 357-3650 Mon. Fri. 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p,m. Sat. 8:00 a.m. . 4:00 p.m. VisaiMastareard — Ample Parking BUILOING COME ;