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.
