by ED HOLDER

London is the 10th largest city in Canada, yet has more than 10% unemployment. Canada is starting to come out of the worst global recession in our lifetime, but that is little consolation for the worker without a job.

We need to foster a spirit within London that recognizes the importance of a skilled and diversified workforce, that takes full advantage of our special geography, that honours the entrepreneurial spirit and that follows a plan.

London has historically enjoyed a relatively diversified economy and economic success. For London to succeed in the future, we require participation from all community players, including the federal government.

London is well-positioned to maintain this diversified economy and diversified workforce because of key decisions in the past. We have the ingredients to succeed. We enjoy world-renowned medical facilities, strong research-based educational institutions producing smart graduates in a variety of fields, a trained workforce, a vibrant financial sector, an active and affordable housing market, developing transportation infrastructure and a healthy mix of private sector and government business.

The key to success will be to maintain a full spectrum of employment opportunities, which ensures a wide selection of blue- and white-collar jobs. London is large enough to attract global talent, yet it also needs to be sufficiently industrially developed so that our graduates can find long and rewarding careers at home.

We must ensure our economy is never too reliant on any one sector. A multi-skilled, adaptable workforce is a critical component of success. The ability of a worker to adapt brings job stability, financial stability and community stability. To ensure economic success, London needs to foster the diversified workforce.

We need to ensure our educational institutions. Learning no longer stops at graduation. The worker of tomorrow must be prepared to do life-learning and we need to offer these opportunities. The federal government has an obligation to support this through investments in older workers and others who require skills re-training.

London's future must be strongly linked to its geographic advantage, with a plan to enhance our transportation infrastructure.

Due to our growing international airport, London is either linked directly to or within a quick flight of almost every major city in North America. We have excellent road and rail links and are blessed to be part of one of the world's largest and most profitable trade corridors. Look at London's access to major border entry points with the United States.

Because of this access, our city is becoming more attractive to businesses that are bottlenecked by the congestion of a larger metropolis.

This business advantage also extends to other factors such as employment costs and land costs.

Governments at all levels, including the federal government would do well to invest in transportation infrastructure, which supports a vision of London as the transportation hub of Southwestern Ontario.

London has had a strong entrepreneurial past that has served us well. I know many companies in London that are global leaders in their industry. They are committed to staying in London and are great examples of companies that have gone global and remained local -- companies such as Ellis-Don, Diamond Aircraft, StarTech, Trojan Technologies, Armatech and General Dynamics Land Systems.