Made in Canada makes sense

When was the last time you tried on any piece of clothing be it a shirt, pants, baseball cap or even a tuque that had the label, 'Made in Canada' in it?

Even a 'Made in USA' label would be a shocker to see these days because North Americans simply do not manufacture clothing anymore. We buy it but the textile industry left our shores long ago and sadly so too did those jobs.

It appears another industry has picked up and left Canadian shores as well. This week Sher-Wood closed its Quebec operations and relocated to China. The Chinese now can lay claim to manufacturing hockey sticks National Hockey League stars used to proclaim as the best in the game. Of course they won't be the best in the game anymore because the Chinese manufacture nothing but junk. But they do so at the lowest possible prices.

Sher-Wood operated in Canada for 62 years but officials said the company had no choice but to ship out production of composite players’ and goaltenders’ sticks to China, where it has over the years steadily been moving its manufacturing facilities. Prime Minister Stephen Harper may be a huge hockey fan but nothing his party has done, including corporate tax cuts, was able to save Sher-Wood from shipping its sticks and Canadian jobs, overseas.

So if you wonder what's been happening to the shrinking Canadian middle class look no further than low-wage countries in Asia. A Statistics Canada report (February 20, 2009) measured the recent decline: “Canada lost nearly 322,000 manufacturing jobs from 2004 to 2008, with more than one in seven manufacturing jobs disappearing over the period.”

In Canada we're in the midst of a federal election. Today NDP leader Jack Layton made an announcement that his party would not cut defence spending – and that the money spent on procurement, especially for ships, would remain here in Canada. Wouldn't it be refreshing if more of  the parties running for office would do the same? If you're going to send Canadian soldiers over seas send them there in Canadian ships and planes made in their own country.

Middle class Canadians need decent paying jobs and governments of all stripes should attempt to attract and retain companies here.

It gets tiring reading about Canadian companies moving their operations offshore and far too often those headlines are splashed across newspapers and websites all over the globe.

The party that can make this a priority and follow through on it will have my vote for life.

Uncertain times for Jack Layton's NDP

John Henry dropped almost a whole person in weight while successfully campaigning against incumbent mayor John Gray last fall in the municipal election. He covered a lot of ground over the two to three month campaign period and the hard work paid off with a mayoral victory.

Election campaigns take a lot out of the candidates and their volunteers be it at the municipal, provincial or federal level of politics. In order to be election ready it's best to be healthy because any campaign typically plays out like a marathon.

That's why there's reason to worry for the federal NDP. With an election a very real possibility in the next few weeks the party's leader, Jack Layton, is scheduled for hip surgery to repair a fracture. You may recall Layton is also undergoing treatments for prostate cancer.

Jack Layton

I've watched Layton in action before. As a former municipal politician in the City of Toronto it always amazed me at the amount of energy the guy had. He was the most easily accessible councillor for any reporter and he was everywhere in his riding. If there was a community event happening he could be found there. It was hard keeping up with the guy.

When he jumped to federal politics and became the leader of the NDP he took his enthusiasm and energy to another level and it paid off. Under Layton's leadership the party has made significant gains in the number of federal seats the party's won for the NDP. It could be argued Layton's been one of the best leaders the party's had since Ed Broadbent led the party.

But cancer and hip surgery has a tendency to slow a person down no matter what their energy levels. If the NDP, Liberals and Bloc defeat Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's budget later this month and the Conservative minority falls, will Layton be ready to hit the ground running to fight an election? I'm doubtful.

Layton's people are saying he's going to be back in the House of Commons for the budget on March 22. They're making his hip surgery out to be a minor operation. But when you're going to be forced to campaign across the country the question in my mind is this, will his hip hold out?

I wish him well in his recovery but know if an election does happen it will be the toughest one he's ever fought.