ARE YOU SURPRISED?
John Robbins of
Bullet News has the exclusive:
Well, that was a big surprise. Not. And for all the reasons I pointed out a couple of days ago on this blog. Yes, I know there were 340 jobs promised but this promise has taken place in at least one other community and the deals have fallen through. The reason given by the province is that the company GreenSafe has not done business in Ontario for three years. My Translation: any excuse will do because this company has no track record and why do they think they can get $10 million for an "idea?"
I also notice that Robbins pointed out, as I did that "The Liberals have also come under heavy fire from both opposition parties
earlier this week for past financial support given to another
Niagara-based company – video game software developer Silicon Knights
Inc., of St. Catharines – which just announced it has laid off 45
people, more than half its workforce."
Until the dust settles on the Silicon Knights story, the province must be a bit reluctant to hand over millions of dollars based on a proposal. That is a good thing. Jobs are a good thing, but they must be secure, well-paying jobs - a rarity in today's tough market.
The Conservatives have also funded companies that have gone under or moved, like Robbins reports in his story about the Niagara Falls Chef Boyardee plant that closed and left after major funding from the Tories.
As I opined in the earlier post: there are companies that can smell desperation in a community and Fort Erie is desperate for jobs. That is no excuse however, for a community to jump on board any idea or proposal based solely on a company's PR campaign. It would seem that if GreenSafe were such a good deal, the company would have been up and running a long time ago.
What about this?
More bad news. Are you surprised? Someone has to take aggressive steps to bring highly skilled jobs into Fort Erie - not just the minimum wage jobs at a gambling facility. As soon as the backstretch closes, there are many lay-offs. The large employment figure bandied about with regard to the track and slots is very misleading. Most employees now are part time, their hours being cut due to low attendance and fewer gamblers. We already have the Pharma plant in severe jeopardy with little or no hope of saving. Hiring a "consultant" to look into the matter was a waste of the taxpayers' money. (Please do not misunderstand my pessimism as anti-Fort Erie. The unemployment crisis has been going on for several years. In fact, I wrote a piece for a local newspaper in 1992 that could almost be reprinted word-for-word today. The headline read: Fort Erie Unemployment has reached "critical mass." And, you know what? Some of the same people were in positions of authority in this town back then and still are. Almost laughable if it weren't so tragic.)
9 comments:
wonder if the EDTC is in overdrive or going under,along with the track
spend money on the war of 1812 celebrate the deaths of thousands
and give millions to celabrate it DISCUSTING !
Its almost like you relish these moments.
No, I don't relish these moments. There is, however, some small comfort in being right about something that should be obvious to the people who are in a position to make assessments and decisions.
I like ST. Catherines regional councillor Andy Petrowski, but I think he's a bit wrong on the GreenSafe issue.
St. Catharines regional councillor Andy Petrowski, in an open letter to Niagara, Ontario’s regional chair, Gary Burroughs, is calling for an emergency meeting to discuss how Niagara can find a way of winning up to 340 jobs that may be brought here by GreenSafe Demanufacturing Inc., a company that apparently has a successful track record of recycling old stoves, dishwashers and other large household appliances of their kind in its east coast facilities in Canada.
Where is the proof that GreenSafe will keep its promise of jobs? The phrase "apparently has a successful track record" is not enough to give out $10 million in taxpayer money. Three years in business and nothing to show but a proposal.
That's all I'm saying. Desperation sometimes results in foolhardy decisions. My antennae went up when GreenSafe arbitrarily set a "drop dead date." Such pressure from a company that has no real reputation or guarantees is outrageous. Caveat Emptor.
The air must be very thin in Fort Erie, so many idiots in such a small place
takes one to know one
We can all point fingers at one antoher and call each other names, but we aren't the only community that has been suffering from recession.
New York state was in a terrific bind when it was trying to find money just to keep the schools open. There are some communities in California that almost came to the point of laying of essential personnel like firemen and police officers.
We are in a recession, and companies on both sides of the border think that they have the upper hand by demanding the money to settle here. There is no guarantee about their longivity so the funding is given in good faith.
Somewhere in Fort Erie, a certain blog commenter is getting a chubby for all the attention he has recived in the press this weekend. Taken on by two of the best.
Of course, those who did not attend the town hall meeting hosted by John Hill have taken a question and answer and spun it to their own purposes. There is at least a twenty year glut of shovel-ready housing land in Fort Erie. Subdivisions, whole street sections and clear cut parcels, all dressed down and ready to go. The "moratorium" suggested would be: build the ones on the books before opening land to others. I believe that there should be a "drop dead date" with strong fines if that date is reached without any action going on.
But, there are some who will spin and spin. Anything to discredit the four councillors.
Yeah, who's the liar?
The editorials were awesome and of course there are a select few who will bash these smart individuals.
It was great to see such strong counter arguments in the local paper this week. Hopefully that is the end of it and a certain someone can go back to looking for work...
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