OSHAWA—On Thursday, Ontario NDP MPP Jennifer French released the following statement on the new Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP):
“Kathleen Wynne expects Oshawa families to forget that she defended Stephen Harper’s original TPP, putting thousands of jobs in the automotive sector at risk. Now, she’s asking families to trust her once again with the latest version of the TPP – an agreement that was negotiated in secret and leaves automotive workers rightfully worried about how this secret deal will impact their livelihoods.
The government sat on the sidelines during the previous talks; they didn’t stand up for automotive then and they certainly aren’t doing it now. When the Premier says it’s not her jurisdiction, that’s ridiculous – Ontario and its people are exactly her jurisdiction. We have no reason to believe that this deal is prioritizing autoworkers or supporting their communities. When we invited the good folks of Oshawa to our TPP Forum we heard loud and clear that they were just as concerned about the details we knew as the details that are still being kept secret. We don’t need a Premiere who is going to cross her fingers and trust the feds, we need a government that is going to fight for our communities and the people who work in them.
Committing to a secret trade deal that leaves Oshawa’s automotive workers behind was wrong in 2015 and it’s wrong now. We simply cannot give Kathleen Wynne the chance to let us down again. Oshawa families need action, and a plan to protect good jobs that families depend on – not more lip service from a premier that continues to let us down.”