Windsor must prepare for life without FCA, warns economy expert

AlfieMorgan has been watching the workings of Windsor's economy for more than threedecades. The economics expert with the University of Windsor thinks the city needs to pay attention to what happened in Oshawa.

In November, General Motors (GM) announced it would close the Oshawa plantby the end of 2019.Morgan said it wouldbe foolish to think Windsor won't someday be in the same situation.

"It's going to happen in Windsor. The writing is on the wall. The minivan plant is not going to be here," Morgan warned.

GM will also be closing a number of plants in the U.S. by the end of next year.

Need to diversify

Morgan's advice is to diversify now.

"We have a smattering of diversification right now, but not enough," he said. "Right now we've got one dependance on automotive and the automotive industry. That's why when it goes down, everything goes to the dogs."

Windsor's mayor Drew Dilkens would agree with Morgan.

To Dilkens, the news in Oshawa was a wake-up call. He said during his inauguration council address that diversifying the economy will be a key priority during his second term.

"We have to, I say triple, quadruple our efforts on the economic development front and make sure we do everything we can so we don't see a vast hollowing out of the City of Windsor," he said.

Current diversification too slow

According to the mayor, diversifying and replacing the 6,000 jobs at the Windsor assembly plantwill take time, if the city diversifies at the current rate.His best estimate is 10 years, althoughDilkens said realistically it would be much longer.

Morgan said 10 years is not fast enough and that the answer to diversification lies in "pumping money into small businesses." In his view, the government is often waiting on a "big daddy" to come in and heavily invest.

That's the biggest mistake in Windsor's economic development, he said.

"There are so many small business people with great ideas, but they don't have the money." he said.

"If we were to help these people get into business with some money support and some management support, we could diversify in a year or two."