Brian Williams
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
London Free Press
INGERSOLL – The economic fallout of a potential trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump may be the defining issue for voters in this month’s Ontario election. But nowhere more than the reliably blue riding of Oxford.
The 90,000-voter riding, long a Progressive Conservative stronghold under MPP Ernie Hardeman, is built on agriculture and the auto sector – two parts of the economy that would likely be hammered the hardest if 25 per cent tariffs are levied, as threatened, on Canadian-made goods sold in the U.S.
“We’ll just go PC (Progressive Conservative) and cross our fingers,” Gary Young, a 71-year-old semi-retired cab company owner, said of the party led by Premier Doug Ford. “At least (Ford) is standing up to Trump . . . and Trump’s a big issue.”
The auto sector is deeply enmeshed between the U.S. and Canada, with vehicles often crossing the border several times during the assembly process. Oxford is home to large automotive factories including Cami in Ingersoll (1,300 unionized workers), parts maker Vuteq in Woodstock (1,300 workers) and Toyota (8,500 workers between Woodstock and Cambridge).
Gord Lesser, 63, is a former Ingersoll town councillor. He rues a potential trade war – “that’s not going to do either side any good” – and says it’s among the top issues for him heading into the Feb. 27 vote. He knows people who work at the Cami plant and they have “a little bit of worry” about their job security. Lesser is leaning toward voting for Ford.
Cami’s unionized workers are represented by Unifor Local 88. Its president, Brent Tree, said the union isn’t endorsing any political party in the Ontario election, though their concern over Trump’s tariff threat – he delayed it for 30 days, rather than calling it off – runs deep.
“We’re really concerned with the 30-day extension,” Tree said. “Obviously, the workers are concerned about their jobs, because no business is going to invest or continue to invest if they don’t know what the future looks like.”
Oxford County, the largely rural area around Ingersoll and Woodstock, is also widely known as Canada’s dairy capital – and farmers are another group that could be hammered by 25 per cent tariffs on goods they ship into the U.S.
That double-barreled threat to Oxford’s economy hits especially hard for Mike Van Boekel, chair of Unifor Local 88 at Cami. He also owns a 300-acre chicken farm.
The federal carbon tax is troubling enough, he said, never mind Trump’s threat.
“For heating your barns and drying the crops, the carbon tax is just crippling,” Van Boekel said. “That’s more federal, but it’s a huge issue . . . I’m hoping (provincial government officials) step into it somehow.”
bwilliams@postmedia.com
OXFORD – ALL THE CANDIDATES
Peter Beimers – New Blue Party
Khadijah Haliru – New Democrats
Ernie Hardeman* – Progressive Conservatives
Colton Kaufman – Green Party
Bernia Martin – Liberal
Henryk Szymczyszyn – Libertarian
*MPP in last legislature
