GM closure wake-up call for Windsor, Dilkens says
Shaken by GM’s announced closure in Oshawa, Mayor Drew Dilkens made an “all-hands-ondeck” call Monday to diversify Windsor’s economy in preparation for a calamity he hopes never happens.
In his impassioned inaugural address, rewritten after the GM news last week, the re-elected mayor said he couldn’t help but think: “What if that happened here?” What if Windsor lost its largest employer?
If Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced the closure of its Windsor Assembly Plant, at the end of the plant’s current 10-year life cycle in 2025, “there would be a vast hollowing out of Windsor” with 6,000 direct FCA jobs and up to nine times as many spinoff jobs affected, he said in a sobering speech that spoke of bad times for Windsor unlike anything seen since the dawn of the Great Depression.
“I know this is uncomfortable for most people to think about. I know we like to think it could never happen, but we must think, talk and prepare for this possibility,” he said.
The mayor stressed that FCA has given no indication that the Windsor operation is in jeopardy.
“We are proud of this facility and we will continue to do everything we can to help our largest employer be successful,” he said.
“But ladies and gentlemen, we need to start planning as if we’ve just been given notice that 2025 is the year this plant will close.” He said everyone must act with a sense of urgency to reshape the local economy. He called on the chamber of commerce, local business improvement associations and all other organizations to step up. Because times are good, now’s the time to act, he said. Waiting until the next recession and then hoping to turn things around is just too risky.
“We need to triple our efforts in economic development to fasttrack the diversification of our economy.”
During the last four-year term of council, about 600 jobs have been created by attracting new employers like Kauth (auto parts), APAG (electronics) and AAR (aircraft maintenance) and Quicken Loans announcing a tech centre in the downtown. But those 600 jobs are just a fraction of what would be needed to absorb the impact of a Windsor Assembly Plant closure, he stressed.
He said he won’t be mayor in 10 years. But if history is any indication, one of the 10 councillors sitting behind him on the St. Clair Centre for the Arts stage Monday night will be.
“And God help the mayor who is faced with the prospect I’ve described for you.”
The mayor pledged to do everything in his power to make sure that doesn’t happen. He said first, the city needs support from the county. In the last four years, there have been inroads made in creating a regional transit system (Transit Windsor provides service to the Town of LaSalle) and in January Windsor police will provide policing to Amherstburg. Dilkens said much more can be done by working together, which frees up resources that can be spent on economic development.
He also applauded the efforts of the university and college, which have established campuses downtown, and the local hospitals, which are moving toward a new acute-care hospital and addressing the serious issues of mental health and addiction. To city councillors, he said disciplined decisions made in the last 15 years position the city in a strong financial position to take “bold steps.”
Six city councillors — Ward 1’s Fred Francis, Ward 3’s Rino Bortolin, Ward 4’s Chris Holt, Ward 5’s Ed Sleiman, Ward 6’s Jo-Anne Gignac and Ward 7’s Irek Kusmierczyk — were re-elected from the last council. Joining them for their first council meeting Monday were newcomers Fabio Costante ( Ward 2), Gary Kaschak ( Ward 8), Kieran McKenzie (Ward 9) and Jim Morrison (Ward 10). All councillors were sworn into office by city clerk Valerie Critchley. Superior Court Justice George King placed the chain of office on Dilkens. Dilkens recounted how at the age of seven he witnessed the nervousness of his parents (his father was a Chrysler pipe fitter) as Chrysler teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in 1979. He said until he became a parent, he never appreciated the magnitude of his parents’ relief when Chrysler was saved. And he never felt such a weight as that until he was elected mayor.
Our geography bordering another country and two hours away from the next large employment market (London) wouldn’t make it as easy for Windsor as it will be for Oshawa, where displaced workers can find new jobs in the GTA, he suggested. Dilkens said his speech was a “rally cry ” for the city to start preparing. He hoped that everyone feels a sense of urgency. “2025 is coming fast,” he said. “It will be here before you know it. Tonight is the call for all hands on deck.”
We need to triple our efforts in economic development to fast-track the diversification of our economy.