OSHAWA, Ont. - An NDP plan to pump $600 million into the province's auto sector would be more effective at creating and sustaining jobs than a Liberal plan for the industry, New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton said Friday.

"This investment would only go to those companies that are prepared to meet the job targets they commit to,'' Hampton said at the General Motors plant in this city east of Toronto as company workers stood nearby.

He said the funding would also provide incentives for manufacturers that develop green automotive technology.

"More must be done to make sure the auto sector here keeps up with environmental developments,'' Hampton said. "Our fund will ensure that.''

The NDP leader also said the province must push Ottawa harder to sustain manufacturing jobs by addressing the trade imbalance with Asia, and encouraging Canadians to buy domestically built vehicles.

The Liberals' past $500-million investment in the auto sector was flawed because there were no employment targets attached, Hampton said.

"Two hundred thirty-odd million dollars was handed out to General Motors without there being firm job targets,'' he said.

Hampton said Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty's record in the manufacturing sector is poor, given that Ontario has lost 175,000 related jobs since the Liberals took office, including 52,000 so far this year alone.

When asked if the proposed NDP funding could save GM jobs in Oshawa slated to be cut in 2008, Hampton avoided a direct response.

"There is still time,'' he said, adding that convincing companies like GM to produce consumer-friendly greener vehicles is part of the solution.

GM worker Trish McAullife is among those facing an uncertain future. McAullife, a 24-year assembly line veteran and mother of two, has been laid off indefinitely like so many others.

"That guts a community, but I tell you folks, that guts a family, it guts many families. Where do you go from here?''

While many attribute problems in the auto sector to market forces such as the soaring Canadian dollar, Hampton said the government can help by offering good health care, low hydro rates and ensuring Ontario has the most skilled workers.

Hampton also pledged more help to the manufacturing sector with a plan to create a job protection commissioner -- a proposal included in an NDP bill introduced in the last legislative session that died on the order paper.

"A jobs commissioner would be able to take a proactive approach,'' Hampton said at a campaign stop outside a now-closed fastener plant in Brantford.

He said a similar position in British Columbia, since scrapped, helped save 75,000 jobs over 11 years.

Liberal Economic Development and Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello called Hampton's funding proposal for the auto industry "a pale version'' of the Liberals' plan.

Pupatello also said a jobs commissioner would simply add another layer of bureaucracy that would deter investment in the province, noting the position was eliminated in B.C. because it wasn't protecting enough jobs.

Earlier Friday, Hampton attended a breakfast rally at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, declaring himself the winner of Thursday's televised debate with McGuinty and Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory.

"I tried last night to raise issues that I think matter to the majority of people across Ontario and put forward practical solutions,'' Hampton said.

"I think I succeeded in that, and I think Mr. McGuinty is feeling the pressure.''

Hampton was joined by federal New Democrat Leader Jack Layton and NDP MP Thomas Mulcair, who scored a stunning upset this week in a federal byelection in Quebec.

Layton sidestepped the issue of whether the federal party would support Hampton's pledge to raise tobacco taxes in Ontario, saying their focus has been on advertising rules and health promotion.

"That's not a measure at the federal level we've begun to discuss -- at this point,'' Layton said.