They are online.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...to-close-eliminating-550-jobs/article4835895/
Etobicoke is losing a major employer and a landmark on its lakeshore with news that the former Christie Cookie plant is closing next year, eliminating 550 jobs.
The new owner of the sprawling plant, well-known for its water tower, visible from nearby Gardiner Expressway and the smell of baking, made the announcement Thursday following a meeting with the plant’s workers.
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“It’s a bad day, not only for my community, but for the City of Toronto,” said Councillor Mark Grimes who represents the ward where the plant is located. “It’s brutal.”
The closing of the plant, built in 1948, marks an end of a local institution, said Mr. Grimes who remembers visiting cookie and cracker factory as a Cub Scout.
It also is likely to be the next battleground in the city’s fight to protect industrial land in a market that is feeling pressure from in-demand residential developments. .
The site at the at the corner of Lakeshore Blvd. and Park Lawn has gradually been surrounded by condo towers, Mr. Grimes said. Thursday, when its owners, came to meet with Mr. Grimes and Councillor Peter Milczyn who represents the neighbouring ward, they brought plans that envisioned 27 new residential towers on the 27 acre site, or about 7,000 new homes.
Mr. Grimes said he will meet with city staff to see if anything can be done to encourage the plant to stay. If that can’t happen, he vowed to fight to keep the site as employment land.
“I’ve always said if we keep getting rid of pieces of property like this we will be driving to Sudbury to go to work. It’s very important that we maintain these lands.”
Mr. Milcyn, also chair of the city’s Planning and Growth committee, said the closing will put pressure on the operations of the other major employer in the area, the Ontario Food Terminal on the north side of the highway, and on city staff who will have to respond to a massive proposal to redevelopment the site.
The Food Terminal, a provincial facility with long-term leases, is not going anywhere, Mr. Milcyn said, but he and Mr. Grimes have fought to keep residential development from crossing to the north side of Lakeshore Blvd. “We have always said there is a line in the sand and we don’t want that to be eroded.”
A recent OMB case involving a nearby site that was rezoned over the city’s objections means that line has been crossed, he said.
“It’s a disaster for the people affected right now and for the city,” Mr. Milcyn said of the plant closing.
The plant’s owner, Mondelez Canada, which was spun off last month from Kraft Foods Inc., gave three reasons for the plant’s closure - the growth of nearby residential development that made it difficult to operate in the area, the age of the facility and excess capacity. Company spokesman Stephanie Cass said she could not comment on future plans for the site.
She said some of the products made at the plant will be shifted to other facilities in the east end of the city and to a plant in Montreal. The remaining products will be made at facilities outside Canada, she said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/11/01/toronto-etobicoke-factory.html
Toronto bakery to close after decades in business
Encroaching neighbourhood, high costs to modernize plant factored into decision
CBC News Posted: Nov 1, 2012 4:54 PM ET Last Updated: Nov 1, 2012 7:53 PM ET
More than 500 people work at the bakery owned by Mondelez Canada Inc., in Etobicoke.
Coun. Mark Grimes says that many of those jobs could be lost as a result of a pending plant closure that will occur in the fall of next year.
An industrial bakery is going to turn off its ovens after decades of operation in Toronto's west-end, putting hundreds of people out of work.
Mondelez Canada Inc. announced Thursday that it will be closing the bakery located at the corner of Lake Shore Boulevard and Park Lawn Road in the fall of next year.
Employees at the bakery learned of the company’s plans on Thursday.
"Our focus right now is on our employees,” said Alvaro Cuba, the company's vice-president of operations.
"We're making this announcement almost a year in advance of the planned closure to help provide a smooth transition. We're committed to treating our people fairly and working with them through this difficult time."
The 625,000-square-foot bakery has been in operation since 1948.
Etobicoke-Lakeshore Coun. Mark Grimes said it was not yet clear if all of the 550 jobs will be eliminated as a result of the pending closure.
"We're going to lose a lot of them, but I think some will go the plants out in Scarborough — I don’t have those numbers — but some will go south of the border...it’s a bad day, for not only my community, but for the City of Toronto."
Some employees who spoke to CBC News said they have been told they have 10 more months of work.
Mondelez Canada is owned by Mondelez International, a company whose food portfolio includes the Cadbury chocolate brand, Trident gum, Tang powdered beverages and Nabisco and Oreo biscuits.
The company has decided to close its Etobicoke plant because its location is no longer advantageous for its business operations.
"While this was an appropriate location for a large bakery when it was first built, the significant residential development surrounding it has led to operating constraints that will become increasingly difficult with the further residential expansion that is underway," Cuba said.
"With the facility's aging infrastructure, and underutilized manufacturing capacity, further investment is not a viable option. Therefore, we have determined it is best to close the facility because it no longer supports our strategy of making the most efficient use of our manufacturing assets."
Grimes and another Toronto city councillor said Thursday that they have seen a proposal to build condominium buildings on the land where the bakery currently stands.
With files from the CBC's Charlsie Agro and Jamie Strashin