St. Thomas the worst-hit Canadian city from the Recession

[haljackey]

It's official: St. Thomas is the worst-hit Canadian city from the recession. While Windsor's numbers are technically worse, it's because St. Thomas is in London's metropolitan area, and thus is not graded by itself. This messes up London's numbers which takes into account St. Thomas' pain.

Article follows:

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How the economic storm battered St. Thomas, Ont.'s factories: Bruised and bloodied by the recession, it now holds the title of the Canadian city hit hardest by the recession and factory closings.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...articlecontent

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And yet they still have the balls to make this 'uplifting' propaganda: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qQl4Nvrmmc

Gah I say. With the Ford Plant closing in September, this will make things worse and will affect London as well.

This is exactly the reason why cities should diversify their economy. That way if one sector struggles, you're still standing.

[MolsonExport]

A sad state of affairs. The LFP had "10,000 jobs lost" on the front page today.

[haljackey]

Well, if you look at London's actual numbers without factoring in the 'metro' area we're not doing as bad. That figure is based on the region... not just London. Again, St. Thomas' numbers are bogging us down.

A lot of the government stimulus investment has gone to Windsor, but now the London area needs it but the program is nearly over.

...If only we saw a project similar to the Windsor-Essex Parkway. It would create jobs and a useful thoroughfare.

[go_leafs_go02]

Yeah - coming back to Ontario several times over the past year, you can definitely see just how the economy has hit London and the area. I'm living just outside of Vancouver, where the recession barely did a dent in things here. Homes are still going up like crazy, prices on homes haven't dropped, and you don't hear of problems with unemployment.

Just remembering how quickly the homes went up in 2006-2007 all around London, and now, you see how it has slowed down. It's sad, and London isn't at the same levels of St. Thomas, but certainly it's been hit in some ways.

[MolsonExport]

^yet in my neck of the woods (liver & onions) they keep building homes.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

^yet in my neck of the woods (liver & onions) they keep building homes.

That's my area too - but you must admit the rate of growth has slowed.

I grew up just off Hyde Park south of Sarnia road and the tracks. Fairly close to ye olde Oakridge Mall.

[haljackey]

Spotted this on Reddit today: the last day at the St. Thomas Ford assembly plant.

• Video Link

The evolution from 20th to 21st century Jobs in the London area has been a hard one. The recession hasn't helped much, nor has the resulting stimulus funding.

[Wharn]

The real tragedy is the loss of the Ford Crown Victoria. Body-on-frame, rear-wheel drive, huge and deliciously smooth V8 engine. Last of their kind. These were the finest large cars money could buy, bar none.

[Symz]

Being someone from Windsor I just want to say to anyone who's affected by this, we feel your pain. I'm sure someone out there knows all the statistics regarding plant closures in Windsor and all the affected feeder plants, but I don't. I do know enough off the top of my head to say that I know we have lost atleast 3 MAJOR plants and many supplier plants.

Our welcome signs still say 'The Automotive Capital of Canada' though that statement hasn't been true for over a decade. The city is struggling to survive, retain it's people and to reinvent itself. It may take Windsor another decade, who knows.

The video posted was to my surprise a very heart felt video and it's saddening. The car companies don't want to make cars in Canada or the US anymore, they want to make them in Mexico, that is, unless they get large subsidies or tax incentives. It's hard to really narrow it down to one thing and point a finger, call me naive but I can't help but also blame NAFTA.

Windsor has 2 large automotive employers left in the city and and one is Chrysler, and we're all aware of the rocky road Chrysler has been on in the last decade. Yesterday in the local paper there was an article with Sergio Marchionne, head of Chrysler Canada saying that the CAW will have to take concessions when negotiating their next contract next year.

I credit Marchionne (a Windsor native) for trying to make it work and keep the Windsor plant open for if it were to close Windsor would be on it's death bed.

To St. Thomas, keep your heads up, it's all that you can do and I'm sorry to hear the news.

[ssiguy]

A very sad day for those workers, their families, and the City and people of St.Thomas.