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Originally Posted by Spoofy
Is it though? What about all the construction jobs that this relocation will bring, as well as all the other developments that this will attract around it.
I'm sure if you look at just how many people worked at the 3 closed factories vs this 1 new one, that the 3 old ones probably had more total employees.
There is so much more to it than just that, for example, who knows how much longer those factories would have been operating anyways considering they all needed significant upgrades and repairs. On the other hand, Maple Leaf wouldn't be investing this money if they didn't plan on keeping this factory running in London for the foreseeable future.
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Construction jobs are nice to support, but really they're part of the cost of building a project.
That said, people minimizing the impact of this are only looking at it from a very narrow point of view. Maple Leaf's consolidation and technology modernization reduce total employment compared to the older sites, sure (same thing happened when they consolidated operations at their recently built meat processing plant in Hamilton). But as it improves productivity, and perhaps scales up production above the previous level, the impacts along the supply chain would lead to a larger positive economic impact for Ontario and likely some local spinoffs in the London area.
Also, consider that the food industry is stable and grows as population does, and Ontario is a growing province and Canada is growing too. Had this been transferred to a different province or out of the country altogether, it would have been a loss for Ontario. But the investment is a lasting one, and not as affected by trends in globalization and trade as other industries, nor the whims of blustery foreign leaders. You're quite right ML wouldn't be doing this if they didn't have the long run in mind.
This is great news for London. For Ontario too.
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