Pointe Claire plant gets $1.5 million boost from Ottawa

A West Island textile firm is getting a major boost with an interest-free cash infusion from the Government of Canada.

Minister of Public Works and Government Services Michael Fortier visited the Fibres Jasztex textile plant in Pointe Claire on Nov. 2 to announce the new loan, which amounts to more than $1.5 million. Fibres Jasztex manufactures synthetic fibres that go into common household furnishings like bedding and mattresses, pet supplies and decorative items. The money will be put towards the purchase of new plant equipment.

“To me this is smart government—smart investment,” said Fortier, at the same time praising companies like Jasztex as “success stories.”

“This is exactly the type of investment that the government of Canada should be doing.”

Jasztex technical consultant Ghyslan Bouchard thanked the government’s support during “tough times” in the textile industry, which he said is now in a period of transformation.

Bouchard spoke of the loan as a way to bolster the company’s global competitive edge, a statement echoed by Fortier, who also pointed to Conservative tax cuts as a boon to Canadian enterprises, helping them compete with American firms.

This is the second such loan the company has received from the federal government. But Fortier said he had no doubt Fibres Jasztex is good for it.

“We’ve done business with Alvin in the past,” he said, referring to the company’s president, Alvin Zoltan. “He has a superb record.”

And Fortier suggested to his audience at Jasztex that they should feel entitled to the loan. “These are your tax dollars,” he said. “It’s your money.”

After his speech, Fortier was taken on a brief tour of the plant.

On the factory floor, Bouchard said his company is not planning to hire many more workers, as the new technology the factory is using increases its overall efficiency.

A news release issued by Canadian Economic Development described the loan not as part of a strategy to create jobs but rather as way to maintain them, an aim that hints at the problem of unemployment in the textile industry in recent years.