Jack Layton Gets His Facts Wrong, Blames Conservatives For Things Liberals Did

Today's Globe and Mail headline-"Layton Blames Harper For Ontario Factory Shutdowns".(of course the Globe was to lazy to actually verify the facts before running that headline)

Pretty strong headline. The problem is Layton has his facts wrong.

"And the Bick’s Pickle in Dunnville, Ont., will shut down later this year, ending 240 jobs, because its owner, the J.M. Smucker Co. of Orrville, Ohio, decided to move the operation to the United States.

These factories are being “shut down because of a foreign takeover approved by the Harper government,” Mr. Layton said. “This is irresponsible economic policy.”


The problem is the purchase was done in 2004, under the Liberal government!

"In 1966, they sold the business to the Robin Hood Canada flour company (which in turn was later bought by International Multifoods of Wayzata, Minnesota), land and everything. The Bick family said the business had just got too big for them to handle.

In 2004, International Multifoods was purchased by the American company, J.M. Smucker. Smucker's sold off most of the other products, such as the flours, but kept Bick's.


Ok, so Layton got that wrong. No big deal, right? Wrong. Layton also blamed Harper for the closing of the Cangro canning plant in St. David's, near Welland-

"Nearly 150 employees lost their jobs when the CanGro canning plan in St. David’s, near Welland, closed its doors after more than a century of operation because Kraft Canada determined that it is cheaper to can fruit in China. A CanGro plant in Exeter near London was closed at the same time.

Uh oh! Layton got it wrong again. The sale of Cangro was actually done in December 2005, again under the Liberal government. And it was Layton's support of the Liberal budget that kept Paul Martin in office.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005 | 11:04 AM ET CBC News Kraft Foods' Canadian division is selling some of its Canadian brands and factories to two U.S. buyout firms for an undisclosed price.
Kraft announced Wednesday that Florida-based Sun Capital Partners and New York-based EG Capital Group will buy several product lines and five factories in Canada. EG Capital recently bought Laura Secord, the largest boxed chocolate retailer in Canada.

The product lines being acquired from Kraft include Aylmer, Primo pasta and soups, Ideal vegetables, Roma pasta, and the Canadian licensing rights for a number of Del Monte products, including canned fruits and vegetables.

The two buyout firms have formed a new company, CanGro Foods, to operate the grocery assets. About 800 Kraft Canada employees in Ontario and Quebec will transfer to CanGro.

So Layton is open to forming a coalition with the Liberals. One would think he might get his facts straight on who it is he wants to jump into bed with. Blaming Harper for something the Liberals did shows he might need to do some more studying before letting Ignatieff have his way with him.