Tom Mulcair: Ottawa not doing enough for manufacturing

Tom Muclair says that the depleted factories of Amherstburg, Ont., are a symptom of a lack of support for the manufacturing industry in Ottawa.

The NDP leader toured the southwestern Ontario town on Thursday, as part of Mulcair's ongoing, campaign-style Ontario Tour for Change.

"I was able to see some of the massive factory sites that have been shut down over recent years and the federal government simply isn't playing a positive role in working with the Ontario government to get those good jobs back," he said.

"The jobs that are being created are part-time, precarious, low-paid jobs. We deserve better."

Mulcair is pledging to be "a champion" of the auto sector, as well as the wider manufacturing sector.

The NDP leader is sounding a similar message at each stop that change is on the horizon and that the New Democrats are the best choice for Canadians at the polls come Oct. 19.

Wednesday, Mulcair was in Windsor, where he talked up the auto industry at a rally at the Fogolar Furlan Club, before he was shuttled away in a Chrysler minivan.

In Amherstburg on Thursday, Mulcair once again delivered his pitch to voters with a local focus.

"Canadians want change in Ottawa and nowhere is that call for change as loud and as clear as it is right here in southwestern Ontario," Mulcair said Thursday.

"And it's really not difficult to see why — after 10 years of Stephen Harper, the manufacturing sector that once supported southwestern Ontario is shrinking."

While Mulcair was in the region, local Conservative MP Jeff Watson was slamming NDP policy on Twitter and warning of what an NDP government would do to the auto industry.

Mulcair is hoping that his New Democrats can replace the Conservatives in government this fall.

The New Democrats usurped the Liberals as the official opposition in the 2011 election, but have never formed a federal government themselves.

The federal election, unless it is called early, is less than three months away.