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How Oshawa can learn from the Ford plant closure in St. Thomas

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Shifting fortunes have forced 'the Railway City' to reinvent itself more than once

Once more than two million square feet of production space, all that's left of the Ford Talbotville Assembly Plant today is weeds pushing through the cracks of an empty parking lot. The 650-acre property is still owned by Ford and the company doesn't want media on-site. (Colin Butler/CBC News)

If Oshawa is looking for lessons on its next steps following a pullout by General Motors, it need not look any further than St. Thomas, a southwestern Ontario community whose own automotive factories were wiped out by the fallout from the 2008 recession.

St. Thomas has gone through this kind of decline numerous times.. ..that strength in the people has pushed through - Sean Dyke, top economic development officer for the City of St Thomas

A week ago, GM announced it would shut its Oshawa Assembly Plant permanently, putting some 2,400 people out of work and forcing a community that built GM vehicles for nearly a century to re-invent itself.

If the people of Oshawa are looking for counsel, they can find it in St. Thomas.

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The Ontario city of about 42,000 is located three hours west along the 401 and has been forced to remake itself more than once because of major shifts in technology and the fortunes of the North American economy.

Starting in 2008, the community was hard hit by the Great Recession. Starting with the closure of Sterling, a heavy truck manufacturer, that put 1,000 people out of work. Then, the Ford Talbotville Assembly plant left the region in 2011, taking 1,400 jobs with it. A number of other, smaller auto parts plants also closed as a result, putting thousands more out of work.

All told, one in seven residents lost their job.

'It's difficult to replace the heart of the community'

Show more How attitude played a major role in rebuilding after St. Thomas lost Ford and Sterling 1:36

Sean Dyke, the CEO of the city's Economic Development Corporation, said it took nearly a decade to recover from both shut downs, but the toughest turnaround of all was people's perceptions of the city and of themselves.

"The community, I don't think was in the dumps as much people thought it was," Dyke said.

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"The reality is people immediately have that negative attitude because that's what was being pushed on the community. All of the media was negative. All of the stuff we read about in the papers about the plants closing. It was a real challenge at the time."

Dyke said in the end, it was the city's own perseverance that brought it through the depths of the 2008 recession.

"St. Thomas has gone through this type of decline numerous times, through the railway, through automotive and through this latest recession," he said. "That strength in the people has pushed through."

"I wouldn't say we've grown 5,000 jobs since then, but we've certainly gotten pretty close to it. Do they pay as well? Not necessarily, but there's a lot of growth there and growth opportunity."

'A community that cares about itself'

Show more 'You can sit and feel sorry for yourself, or you can get up and do something about it.' 1:25

Part of the reinvention of St. Thomas included drawing on its history as a comeback city, one that reaped enormous prosperity during the golden age of rail, then saw the industry go into decline with mass produced cars and the availability of commercial flights.

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"We call ourselves the railway city and yet, there's barely a railway that runs through the community anymore," said St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston.

St. Thomas is a community that cares about itself. - Joe Preson, Mayor of St. Thomas

Before St. Thomas survived the collapse of auto manufacturing in the fallout of the 2008 recession, it survived the collapse of the railroads six decades earlier, which once employed thousands of people in the community.

'Perseverance,' is a metallic sculpture that stands at the northern entrance to the community of St Thomas, Ont. The art is meant to embody the city's spirit. (Colin Butler/CBC News)

Back then, five major rail lines travelled through St. Thomas, which was the halfway point between New York and Chicago and was a major North American hub during the golden age of rail.

Today, the ruins of the city's once thriving railroad industry still dot the urban landscape and Preston says they serve as an important symbol for a community that's been forced to re-invent itself more than once.

"Our history is important," he said. "We can be positive about where we're going, but we better remember where we came from. St. Thomas is a community that cares about itself."

'Oshawa right now, I believe, is reeling'

Show more 'Pick up the shovel. Make it happen' 1:02

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That sense of community is why many former Ford and Sterling workers never left St. Thomas, according to Paul Corriveau, a second generation autoworker who spent a decade on the line at the Ford Talbotville Assembly Plant before it closed in 2011.

"Oshawa right now, I believe, is reeling. St. Thomas was reeling when we got the news as well," he said, noting that like St. Thomas, Oshawa will likely have to do some soul-searching in order to figure out what it wants to be known for as a community now that one of its biggest employers is gone.

Like many former Ford workers, Corriveau could have left, but decided to stay in the community. Together with his business partners, he helped found the Railway City Brewing Company, a craft brewery whose name is a nod to St. Thomas' railway past.

"I think it's just as easy to rebuild something in your own community as it is to go to a new community and try to find a new identity," he said, noting his company employs a number of former Ford workers like himself.

Corriveau said the most important thing Oshawa needs to do as a community, is invest in itself, either through volunteering or funding public projects that benefit the community.

"Try to make it a place to live," he said. "That quality of life needs to come to your community."

Built in 1913, the former Michigan Central Railroad Locomotive Shops once employed 400 workers. Today, it's home to the Elgin County Railway Museum, dedicated to the city's glory days as an important railway hub. (Colin Butler/CBC News)