TORONTO - Premier Dalton McGuinty says it's important to be honest with Ontario residents in saying some jobs are likely never coming back.
The premier faced criticism from opposition parties on Tuesday after saying some traditional manufacturing jobs were likely to vanish forever.
McGuinty says the province's economy is experiencing something "relatively new" in having to compete with emerging global giants like India, China, Brazil and Russia.
He says the government has a strategy in place to retrain workers who lose their jobs as manufacturing in the province plummets.
But McGuinty says of the 20,000 spots available in the second career strategy, only 1,100 people have signed up.
Some estimates say another 250,000 manufacturing jobs could be lost in Ontario in the next five years.
