TORONTO

It’s a perfect rust storm.

Auto makers, retailers and manufacturers have united recently in their cry for help.

Statistics Canada has released figures showing the province’s slump in manufacturing was continuing.

This province saw a 1.1% decrease in sales in May, the fourth decline for the province in 2015 — and only a slice of a 33% decline since 2000.

In June, Ontario had the highest number of job losses within the country’s manufacturing sector: 5,200 jobs were lost in a one-month period alone. Again, just a percentage of the 300,000 jobs lost in Ontario in the last 15 years. And manufacturing as part of Ontario’s economic output has slumped from almost 21% in 2003 to just over 12% last year.

These stats come hard on the heels of Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne calling on the premier to slow down the implementation of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and cap and trade and take a close look at how it’s going to impact the auto sector.

And the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) released a statement last week calling on Premier Kathleen Wynne to study the “negative consequences for the province’s economy” the province’s proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORRP) will have.

The letter was signed by 150 companies.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens also lamented the loss of two new auto plants — Jaguar-Range Rover and Volvo — largely because manufacturing has become so expensive.

The main reason for soaring costs — and plummeting employment — is the high cost of electricity as a result of the Green Energy Act.

PC leader Patrick Brown visited the Fiat Chrysler plant in Windsor Friday — an event planned before Marchionne’s statements.

He says that city had some of the highest unemployment in Canada.

“One stat I read is that 69 times since 2001, Windsor has had the highest national unemployment and we’ve seen that particularly because of the loss of jobs in the auto sector,” he said.

This isn’t about jobs going to Mexico. It’s about us losing jobs and manufacturing to nearby competitors — neighbouring states and other provinces, he said.

He points out that the Liberals once blamed the downturn in manufacturing on the high Canadian dollar. The loonie has slumped — and businesses aren’t coming back, Brown says.

“You see other jurisdictions, like Indiana, where manufacturing has increased to 30% of their GDP,” he said.

Taras Natyshak isn’t just the NDP’s economic development critic. As MPP for Essex he’s seen up-close and personal the human toll this economic slide has taken on people in southwestern Ontario.

“I come from an automotive family,” he told me in an interview last week.

His mother worked for 35 years at the GM trim plant and he has dozens of family members who work directly or indirectly for car manufacturers and the tool and die sector.

“We’re all deeply connected to the automotive industry here. When it falters and when it isn’t secure, then that adds to the insecurity of the region of the whole in every sense,” he said.

Natyshak says soaring electricity costs have also hit agriculture hard. Large greenhouse operations in the Kingsville and Leamington area need reliable, affordable power.

Heinz closed its Leamington plant this year and he fears others will leave.

“They’re expressing concerns about the changes around Hydro One and how this could be detrimental in terms of the privatization of Hydro One,” he said. “We’re already seeing companies make moves to more affordable hydro jurisdictions in the U.S.”

Ohio, where the climate and growing season are comparable to southern Ontario, are gaining plants, as we lose them.

He says the province should put together a comprehensive strategy around manufacturing to deal with the high cost of electricity and provide stability to the sector.

Economic development minister Brad Duguid say job numbers have increased more than 560,000 since 2009.

“We have also outpaced the U.S. job growth since the recession, meaning we’ve recovered 208% of the jobs lost from the recessionary low.”

He says the province has created more than 60,000 net new jobs since January.

“Although these are positive trends, we know there’s more work to do and far too many Ontarians remain unemployed,” he said by e-mail.

The province and feds recently appointed former Toyota Canada Chairman, Ray Tanguay, as its auto czar, to grow and promote the sector.

“We’ve seen $4 billion of investment in our auto sector since November, and we are the only sub-national jurisdiction in North America to have five auto manufacturers,” Duguid said.

And he defended cap and trade and the pension plan.

“We’re currently consulting with industries, including Ontario’s auto sector, on a made in Ontario solution that best helps Ontario businesses achieve reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions while remaining competitive,” he said.

The ORRP will, “contribute positively to Ontario’s economy over the longer term by enhancing the purchasing power of retirees,” Duguid said. “Our goal is to ensure that sustained economic growth goes hand-in-hand with Ontario’s environmental health and a secure retirement future.”