You were previously asked to practice your listening and note-taking skills with
You were previously asked to practice your listening and note-taking skills with “Is Ontario Still a Major Manufacturing Powerhouse?” (https://www.tvo.org/video/is-ontario-still-a-major-manufacturing-powerhouse). A sample presentation of the broadcast is written out below.
Sample Presentation
Welcome,
My name is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and I am here today to explain why manufacturing still plays a key role in Ontario’s job economy. My talk is based on information obtained from the December 4th episode of TVO’s The Agenda entitled “Is Ontario Still a Manufacturing Powerhouse”.
In the episode, moderator, Steve Pakin, discussed the issue with three panelists who presented different perspectives. Details about the panelist are included as an attachment to this presentation.
My talk will take about 10 minutes. In it, I will demonstrate that Ontario is still, a player in the manufacturing sector and that Ontario has the potential to expand its manufacturing. I have divided my talk into three parts. First, I will review Ontario’s perceived manufacturing decline. Then I will discuss some of the panelists’ comments. Finally, I will highlight how Ontario can grow its manufacturing sector.
To begin, manufacturing in Ontario has been quite volatile during the past 50 years. For example, in the 1960s manufacturing thrived in Ontario, largely due to the automotive industry. Big players such as Ford and GM have manufacturing plants in Ontario. At that time, Ontario, as a member of the Commonwealth, enjoyed special trade agreements with other Commonwealth countries. However, increased competition from foreign car makers and more open trade agreements resulted in job losses in the 1970s and 1980s. Similar to the auto industry, other manufacturing industries also experienced decline largely because of off-shoring production to countries where labour costs were cheaper.
Having established that fact, I’d now like to move on and discuss some of the panelists’ views about the decline. While all panelists agree that traditional manufacturing jobs are in decline, Linda Hasenfratz explains that productivity has increased and new indirect jobs have been created. She explains that automation has made many traditional direct manufacturing jobs obsolete. Nevertheless, new indirect jobs in logistics and administration required to support technology and automation have been created. Tom Fortin, also explains that Ontario has some of infrastructure and labour skills to support an expanding manufacturing economy. He is, however, concerned about the off-shoring of production and job losses due to automation. Nevertheless, he explains that automation and technology must be embraced, offering examples of how mines in Sudbury use technology to allow mines to do deep mining and extend the life of mines. He also provides examples of other successful industries in Sudbury that have embraced technology and have become more innovative.
Now that I have discussed some of the panelists’ views,