Layton turns eye to rust belt

Jack Layton paid a last minute visit to the campaign office in Thorold yesterday and injected a whole lot of energy in the last days before the election. It was so packed I was unable to take any pictures.

"Layton said communities along Highway 401 throughout the Golden Horseshoe are hurting like they have never before. He visited seven communities – Windsor, Essex, St. Thomas, London, Welland-Thorold, Hamilton, and Guelph – in 16 hours.

'When you lose a good middle-class job, you are losing a lot,' Layton said in Thorold.

Nearby Welland is still reeling from the announcement last month that John Deere is closing its plant at the end of February, throwing some 800 employees out of work.

'In these difficult times you've got to have leadership that understands the personal stories of Canadians,' he told reporters in Thorold after accusing Harper of not caring about the 400,000 manufacturing jobs that, he says, have disappeared."read more