Tears In Oshawa

I’m going to say the unpopular because that’s what I do. I simply say what other people are thinking because without the voice of reason, society is destined for continued mediocrity.

Whenever I go to get my GM car fixed in a dealership, I witness indifference to my needs until I bark. I see snooty people without a post secondary education carving out agendas of mini power trips. I see checkout clerks unprofessionally dressed. I’m quoted over priced parts.  I see a laissez- faire modicum of operation. My car’s make and model steering mechanism had been deemed responsible for multiple deaths but its ultimate recall was delayed and only actuated after outrage from interested parties.

Workers in Canadian assembly lines of automobile manufacturing typically require no formal education in order to conduct menial assembly line tasks. Yes, some tasks require dexterity and on the job training, but an individual need not bring a mind equipped with astute analytical skills or a body of knowledge to deploy. Auto plant workers when factoring in benefits and pension plans oftentimes out earn those who have invested much more in professional development. 

The taxpayer has bailed out the automobile industry in the face of hardened union agreements. The Quebec based Bombardier has also benefitted dramatically from public funds.  When market forces and financial crises have struck non-auto, and non-airplane manufacturing sectors, these sectors succumbed to the market. Yet, your federal government has opened your wallet to the aforementioned two groups unabashedly. When other Canadians at times have been hit by unemployment, a system of Employment Insurance could be systematically deployed to their benefit. However; with the news of an Oshawa plant closure, it would appear that politicians are all too eager to expedite the waiting period or elongate the benefit period maximum. 

It’s an event like today with this news when we come to learn exactly where your federal government and opposition politicians stand within the framework of capitalism, individual responsibility, free markets, and the perviousness of the public purse.

My message to auto workers facing layoffs… get registered for the January session at your local community college and learn more about competing in the free enterprise system. Oh yes, you may need to put that boat or cottage up for sale as you invest in yourself.