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Magna International Closing Parts Plant

Auto supplier’s parts plant employing 260 in Cape Breton, N.S., is shutting down this month and will be permanently closed by the end of next year.

NORTH SYDNEY, N.S. (CP) -- A Magna International parts plant employing 260 in Cape Breton is shutting down, another victim of North America's slumping auto industry.

The non-unionized workers at Precision Finished Components in North Sydney were summoned to an hour-long meeting Tuesday as security guards patrolled the plant's parking lot.

"When they bring security in, that usually says that's the end of her," one employee told CTV News as he arrived for the meeting.

The employees were told the plant will start shutting down this month and will be permanently closed by the end of next year.

Magna International, based in Aurora, Ont., confirmed it will transfer the work from Cape Breton to plants in Ontario.

"I can't see it being too surprising, given (the state) of the automotive industry," said another employee.

In a statement, the company said the decision came after an evaluation of the plant's financial status, future business prospects and unused capacity at other facilities.

"Those factors, combined with the difficult economic conditions facing the North American auto industry . . . have made the manufacturing facility no longer viable," the release said.

Gordon MacLeod, the area's municipal councilor, said the shutdown will hurt Cape Breton.

"That's devastating to this community," he said. "This represents about 10 per cent of the manufacturing jobs on Cape Breton."

Peter MacKay, the federal minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, said the federal government will do everything it can -- despite the political turmoil in Ottawa -- to speed up access to government programs to help laid-off workers.

The layoff of 17 people at the plant last month foreshadowed Tuesday's announcement.

A temporary, six-week closure of another Cape Breton auto parts maker, Atlantic Castings Ltd., scheduled for later this month, also signalled that the losses suffered by the Big Three automakers had trickled down to Cape Breton.

Sean Burke, spokesman for Atlantic Castings, a firm that counted Precision as its main customer, said the closure "is one more hurdle the company will have to overcome."

"It's Black Tuesday in Cape Breton," said Mark Eyking, the Liberal member of Parliament for Sydney-Victoria.

"We knew there was trouble brewing, with the Big Three automakers as the plant's major customers, but I'd hoped we could get some kind of package together that might help out."

An emergency meeting of all three levels of government and company officials was held over the weekend in Sydney to look at possibilities for retooling the plant or retraining staff, Eyking said.

On the positive side, he said, none of the equipment is scheduled to be moved out of the plant for several months, so if an auto industry bailout is offered soon, there might be a chance to save some work at the plant.

Premier Rodney MacDonald tried to sound upbeat, too. He said talks between Magna and provincial officials are already underway on finding another use for the plant.

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