General Motors has announced it will close a transmission plant in Windsor, Ont., by mid-2010, in a blow to Canada's automotive sector that could mean the loss of 1,400 jobs.

"I have spoken with the CEO of General Motors Canada about their plans to try and protect the workers at that facility," Industry Minister Jim Prentice told CTV's Mike Duffy Live on Monday.

"It's a little to say just what the impact will be. Many of the workers there are fairly senior and pretty close to retirement because this is an older facility from 1963. We'll see what the actual number of workers is that have to transition into new employment. That's our first priority."

GM said the plant will close once the production schedule runs out on the four-speed automatic transmissions the plant produces.

"We were really trying to find the next generation product to go into the plant. Unfortunately with the dynamic of our changing portfolio, there just wasn't a new transmission to put into there," said Stew Low, spokesman for GM Canada.

"In conjunction with the ongoing bargaining happening with the CAW right now, the decision was made to close the plant and to tell employees just as soon as possible," he said in an interview with CTV Newsnet.

The news comes just weeks after GM said it would eliminate a shift at its Oshawa pickup truck plant. The move will eliminate about 1,000 jobs.

In Windsor, the closure will affect 1,400 people who receive a salary or are paid hourly.

Ontario's job strategy

NDP Leader Howard Hampton said Ontario does not have enough high-paying jobs to ease the burden on the laid-off workers.

At the legislature Monday, he called on the Liberal government to develop a strategy to help bring lucrative jobs into the province.

"How many good jobs have to be lost in Ontario before the (Dalton) McGuinty government takes this issue seriously and responds with something other than photo ops?"

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said the Liberals have developed a strategy to help workers receive training in selected industries.

"He doesn't recognize the more than half a billion dollars we're putting into training for our workers," he said. "We think one of the most important things we can do in the global economy is to enhance the employability of our workers."

An official with Campaign 2000, an organization that lobbies Canadian governments to develop good job strategies, said poverty is a serious issue in Canada.

"Forty-one per cent of children in low-income families in this province have at least one parent working full time all year and it's not enough to raise their families out of poverty," said Ann Dector, the national director of Campaign 2000.

"All but the wealthiest parents are working more than they were 30 years ago," she said.

The campaign is suggesting the province try to lure high-paying green jobs to make up for losses in the car and truck industry.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss