CAW, Northern Ontario Mayors, Politicians Urge Premier McGuinty to Halt
Closure of Xstrata Timmins Metallurgical Site

TORONTO, April 8 /CNW/ - CAW President Ken Lewenza will be joined by a coalition of Northern Ontario Mayors and regional politicians for a meeting with Premier Dalton McGuinty today (Thursday, April 8) at 4:30 to urge the Ontario government to use their power to stop the closure of Xstrata's Timmins metallurgical operations.

The site is slated to close May 1 and will mean the loss of 670 direct jobs and as many as 4,428 indirect jobs across the region.

The coalition of politicians and union representatives is urging the Ontario government to use its power under the provincial Mining Act to bring Swiss mining giant Xstrata to the table to negotiate on extending the life of the facility.

"Multinational corporations can only take from a country as much as governments allow them to and in our country, federal and provincial governments have allowed companies to take far too much, giving little consideration to the long term impact for the country," said CAW President Ken Lewenza.

"We're calling on the Ontario government to stand up for the people of Northern Ontario who have seen their communities decimated by companies who have swallowed up Canadian natural resources and then cut jobs. Xstrata is just the most recent example."

The meeting will take place from 4:30-5:30 p.m. (time approximate). CAW President Ken Lewenza will be available for comment after the meeting outside the Ontario Legislature.

    
    The delegation will include:

    Timmins James Bay MP Charlie Angus
    Timmins James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson

    Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren
    Sudbury Mayor John Rodriguez
    Smooth Rock Falls Mayor Kevin Somer
    Iroquois Falls Mayor Gilles Forget
    Black River-Matheson Mayor Mike Milinkovich

    CAW National President Ken Lewenza
    Assistant to the National President Jerry Dias
    CAW Local 599 President Dennis Couvrette
    CAW Xstrata chairperson Ben Lefebvre
    National Representative Tom Dattilo
    CAW Researcher Bill Murnighan
    

For further information: CAW Communications, Shannon Devine, (cell) [phone]