Dave Van Kesteren, Member of Parliament for Chatham-Kent-Essex, and Jeff Watson, Member of Parliament for Essex
Windsor, Ontario
November 13, 2014
Check Against Delivery
Thank you for that kind introduction.
Welcome and thank you for joining us.
I would also like to thank Mayor John Paterson for hosting us today. I'm very happy to be here with my colleagues Minister Goodyear and MP Van Kesteren to make this announcement on behalf of our Government.
As the Minister mentioned, our Government has been setting the right macro-economic conditions to ensure Canadian businesses succeed. How have we done this? By lowering taxes, reducing red tape, and signing historic free trade agreements.
But given these accomplishments, we are prepared to take on the work that remains to be done, which is why our priorities continue to be creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.
That is why the Prime Minister created Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, or FedDev Ontario, ─ to help build on the strengths of this region. This is our region's own development Agency, and, as Minister Goodyear mentioned, we have seen results of the hard work they have been doing in the last five years.
In today's economy, businesses and communities need to be diverse in order for sustainable economic growth to take place.
The food and beverage processing sector is the second largest manufacturing sector in Ontario, so it goes without saying that this plays a key role in our economy, both locally and at a national level.
As a region that has the experience and capacity to process food products for export all over North America, southwestern Ontario has a lot of potential to expand its presence in Canadian and overseas markets.
And this is why we are here today.
Much of the food processing industry is based here in southern Ontario. The economic spin-offs from this sector also have a direct impact on other players in the food supply chain, including Ontario's many farmers.
This is a region with a great deal of talent and potential, and we are in the business of supporting that potential in order to benefit individuals and communities all over southern Ontario.
And our partners at the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation are also in this business. Since 1957, this group has been dedicated to the expansion, retention and attraction of new businesses in the Windsor-Essex region.
The concentration of immense farmlands and high-quality produce, as well as a proven history of food-processing distinction, make this region ideal for manufacturing in this sector and for sourcing produce locally.
That is why, despite challenges faced in this past year, Leamington and the surrounding areas are poised to be versatile and remain a big contributor to southern Ontario's food processing sector.
Today we are pleased to announce an investment in the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation through FedDev Ontario's Investing in Regional Diversification initiative to enable it to provide support and new opportunities for Windsor-Essex's food processing sector.
This marks the first announcement through the Investing in Regional Diversification initiative and it touches on some of the main aspects of why FedDev Ontario designed this program, and is an example of how diversification can occur across our region.
The initiative is aimed at attracting businesses, investments and jobs to southern Ontario's communities.
This project will support business retention and expansion activities in response to the closure of the local Heinz plant, which hit this community hard. The aim is to help the region's suppliers diversify their customer base and product offerings.
This $200,000-investment will allow this region to build on existing knowledge and infrastructure to attract new food processing investments, and it is anticipated that this project will maintain an estimated 750 full-time jobs.
Thanks to investments in economic diversification like this one, our Government is working to ensure the sustainability of communities and businesses in southern Ontario.
Thank you very much, and I would like to wish all of you the best of luck with this project.
