Samsung deal questioned

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is pressing the province for more transparency in the deal with Samsung todevelop Ontario's wind energy industry.

The comments come a day after a $40 million announcement to build wind turbines in Windsor Ontario.

"Any new jobs is good news but the concerns we have is that this contract needs to be transparent," said Horwath on Wednesday.

The NDP obtained a copy of the Samsung deal under theAccesstoInformation Act but Horwath said "significant portions were blacked out."

Energy Minister Brad Duguid said blacking out portions of complex contracts like the one with Samsung is standard procedure.

"These agreements are commercially sensitive. There are parts of them that unfortunately because of legal requirements were not allowed to make public," said Duguid onThursday.

What is missing from the contractis detail regarding the permanency of the promised 300 manufacturing jobs for Windsor workers.

'Five years of employment'

The Windsor-Essex Economic Development Corporation isn't concerned about the longevity ofpromised jobs.

"If we take a look at the production orders that are out there just in the next 36 to 48 months, that's enough to guarantee about five years of employment," said Development Corporation Vice President Patrick Persichilli.

Perischilli wouldn't confirm where Samsung's looking to set up shop but he said there's nothing in Windsor that could immediately accommodate the company's needs without undergoing serious renovations.

"The difference between a new construction and taking an existing facility and retrofitting one, there's virtually no difference in cost or process."

Duguid said the additional 400 workers needed for construction of the wind turbine plant is a conservative estimate.

The new plant will be built and operated by CS Wind. Samsung expects to get operations underway by October 2011.