Things to not say when you represent Oshawa

The CAW is stepping up its protest in Oshawa. I remain doubtful that they can get GM to change its mind though. On the other hand, if I were Jim Flaherty, I'd be extremely worried about my seat in parliament come the next election. His whole line about not investing in Ontario is really going to hurt him. The GM workers seem to quote it to everyone. Payback's a bitch, Jim.

BuzzKill

It looks like Buzz Hargrove got nothing from his meeting this morning with Rick Wagoner and the GM brass. I'm not sure what the solution is in a situation like this, I mean fewer people are buying big trucks - and that's a good thing, unless of course, you build big trucks. What stinks here though is the fact that GM seems to have suddenly realized this just two weeks after concluding a contract negotiation with the CAW. It's hard to imagine that GM was bargaining in good faith - and if they honestly had no idea what was happening/going to happen to the truck market in the US given the credit crunch and the evaporation of the new home industry (contractors are one of those groups that legitimately need trucks), then they are business-illiterate.

I can see why GM would have to shut down the Oshawa truck plant (and I can only imagine how painful it will be for the workers affected), but as for their recently concluded labour agreement, they must have been lying or stupid.