Canada: Ontario and Premier

canada: Statistics Canada data shows Ontario's economy has actually been growing for years before Premier Doug Ford was elected in June, according to The Toronto Star. Christopher Katsarov / THE CANADIAN PRESS Not everybody out there supports making Ontario open for business, the premier told the corporate audience at the event organized by the Progressive Conservative-friendly Ontario Chamber of Commerce OCC . Read more Protesters urge Ford to keep worker protections, minimum wage bump in place Article Continued Below Doug Ford steps up attacks on job killing' labour protections There are forces in Ontario who had it good under the stagnant Liberal economy, who were happy seeing businesses close and freezing workers out of better jobs, he said. Speaking to the Ontario Economic Summit in Niagara-on-the-Lake on Friday, Ford warned that powerful interests are trying to thwart his changes. Ontario's economy has actually been growing for years before he toppled the Liberals in the June election and Statistics Canada reports the unemployment rate is 5.7 per cent, among the nation's lowest in a generation. These forces are already organizing and preparing to spend a lot of money to try to stop us, the premier said, apparently referring to labour organizations he did not name. Still, Ford said scrapping the 1 hike to the 14-an-hour minimum wage and eliminating two paid sick days for Ontario workers as of Jan. 1 to boost business has awakened his political foes. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.