D1

By Tobi Cohen
The Canadian Press

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MONTREAL - The resurrection of the Chevrolet Camaro remains a sore point for many former General Motors workers near Montreal, but Quebec's last automotive town has discovered it's better off in some ways without the troubled carmaker.

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CP

New reality: Camaros and Firebirds sit in the yard in front of the General Motors plant in Boisbriand, Que., in this 2002 file photo. Boisbriand used to be home to a General Motors plant but when the automotive giant closed it in 2002 the town north of Montreal had to reinvent itself. The mayors of Oshawa and Windsor say their respective communities are also diversifying as GM scales back its activities in the towns.

The Boisbriand plant shut its doors for good in 2002, leaving 1,500 people - the last of what was once a workforce of 4,700 - unemployed.

By the time GM decided to resume production last March of the iconic muscle car in Oshawa, Ont., the sprawling plant that was the centrepiece of Boisbriand for 35 years had been levelled and efforts were underway to transform the land into an eco-friendly neighbourhood.

Boisbriand, located about 45 kilometres northwest of Montreal, can take comfort in the fact it was able to weather the worst of its own economic storm before the global financial crisis really took hold.

"It was hard for the city, which lost a major tax revenue," Boisbriand Mayor Sylvie St-Jean said in an interview. "We're talking $2.2 million. We're starting to come out of it."

Fortunately, just two per cent of laid-off GM workers actually lived in the city and about three-quarters of them were nearing retirement.

But it was a decision by developer Faubourg Boisbriand and Cherokee Investment Partners, which purchased the site, decontaminated it and is now turning it into a residential, commercial and business city, that has truly revitalized Boisbriand, St-Jean said.

And in an ironic twist of fate, the land once owned by a failing company often accused of missing the ball on environmental efficiency, is now certified green.

As such, developers are going to great lengths to make it pedestrian-friendly. They're also taking steps to reduce erosion, collect rainwater for irrigation and make homes more energy efficient.

By the time the development is complete, probably in another three years according to developer Helene Gignac, the city can expect to generate a lot more tax revenue than before.

Gignac estimates the commercial area alone will create some 2,000 jobs, while hundreds more will result during the construction phase.

"If we look at salary, it's certain the commerce and industry in the future will never replace this loss," St-Jean said, adding the city is planning to commemorate in some way the town's automotive past.

But Boisbriand also has a growing agri-foods industry and is relatively close to Montreal for commuters.

All in all, post-GM life in Boisbriand is good, says St-Jean.

"We didn't want it to close but there comes a point where you can't do anything," she said. "We had some good chapters with GM but that chapter is over and we're moving on."

While the situation is somewhat more dire in cities like Oshawa and Windsor, Ont., they too are preparing for a future in which the automotive industry plays a smaller role.

In Oshawa, about 6,000 unionized auto jobs remain as well as a smaller number of supplier positions. That's down from 25,000 jobs 30 years ago. In the last year alone, the city lost 10,000 jobs, many of them last May when a truck plant was idled.

Mayor John Gray said while "many families are hurting," much is being done to mitigate the effects. Despite popular belief, building permits are up as Oshawa continues to attract industrial, commercial, government and institutional investment.

"We're making sure we don't just sit on our hands and repeat the mistakes of cities like Flint, Mich., where they thought the automotive industry was going to come back," he said.

With three post-secondary institutions, including the new University of Ontario Institute of Technology, education and re-training is key, he said.

He hopes research into the electric car will make Oshawa a centre of excellence in the area. And given the city's proximity to two expanding nuclear plants, he foresees opportunities there for retraining and employment.

Windsor, Canada's automotive capital, once supported close to 60,000 automotive jobs. Today, about 12,000 remain. The city's unemployment rate in May was 13.5 per cent, the highest in Canada.

Mayor Eddie Francis is confident the auto sector won't completely disappear but he knows it's changing and, as such, the city is adapting.

Recognizing the automotive decline, many parts-suppliers reluctantly began diversifying their supply base seven years ago, said Francis, who became mayor in 2004.

The city also started to reposition its local economy. Windsor's post-secondary institutions are expanding to accommodate skills re-training, particularly in health sciences.