Canada's premiere province of Ontario has been in an economic decline for the better part of a decade (Statistics Canada, 2012). Multiple factors contribute to this decline, politics and economy included. Ontario has ceased to be the economic engine of Canada for many reasons, one largely being that products which were primarily made in Canada are now being produced offshore (Wolfe, 2006, 577). This heavily decreases employment and income for the province, leaving Ontario with a dying economy. .
Local manufacturing followed by the export to a broader array of regions is imperative to Ontario's economic health (Bone, 2011, 194). It is critical that both the federal and provincial governments address this and tailor their legislation to reflect the importance of local manufacturing and its need to be at the forefront. In order for this to occur, Ontario needs to be reinvented to incorporate a knowledge-based economy (OUSA, 2009, 2). Ontario manufacturing and consequently its economy may then regain its place as the prominent financial province of Canada. .
Background of the Issue.
Ontario has had a fairly stationary economy throughout history, enabling the tertiary sector to slowly gain, while the primary and secondary sectors gradually declined (Bone, 2009, 175). This was the case until 2008, when the variance throughout sectors abruptly increased (Bone, 2009, 175). The global economic crisis introduced a higher proportion of increase in the tertiary sector, and a significant degree of job loss in the secondary manufacturing sector; especially in the forestry and automotive industry (Bone, 2009, 175). .
The forestry sector has become outdated, emitting dangerous toxins in practice, and the pulp and paper sub-sector has become irrelevant with today's paperless technology (Bone, 2009, 211). The automotive industry crashed due to competition from lower priced products with higher performance from foreign automobile manufacturers (Bone, 2009, 202).