Saturday, June 2, 2012

iPolitics Writer Doesn't Know Electoral Boundaries?

Absolutely brilliant. iPolitics columnist Eric Beauchesne tries to backup Mulclair's "Dutch Disease" comments, and makes an ass of himself:

"Canada’s economy may be suffering from so-called Dutch disease. The claims of a resource-fuelled rise in the currency that is hollowing out its manufacturing sector was reinforced this week by reports of a plan by General Motors to shut down an assembly plant in Finance minister Jim Flaherty’s own riding"


Now one would think someone writing something for iPolitics would actually have a clue that the GM plants are in Conservative MP Colin Carrie's riding of Oshawa, not Flaherty's riding of Whitby-Oshawa. And I could easily point out the other glaring errors in this editorial. The easiest being those vehicles now being built in the Oshawa plant will continue to be built in the U.S. The fact is this move by GM has nothing to do with a slowing economy. GM and the other manufacturers  have plans to further ramp up production numbers. Nor does the plant closing have anything to do with the high Canadian dollar.

 The reason 2,000 GM workers will be out of a job in one year is because the CAW, led by Ken Lewenza, refuses to accept the reality of today's global workforce and economy. Whereas the UAW has foregone wage increases in exchange for profit sharing and performance bonuses, Lewenza's strategy of playing hardball with companies like GM looking to cut costs will continue to result in Groundhog Days, with plant closings and further job losses becoming recurring news.

 It's also notable the author never sees fit to mention the number one reason for "eurosclerosis" as he calls it. That would be the debt crisis of countries like Greece and Italy, countries that have have hit their fiscal Armageddon due to socialist spending policies, the same ones Mulclair promotes.

  If Mr. Beauchesne disputes the facts of the riding boundaries, I would be more than happy to forward them along.


8 comments:

gimbol said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gimbol said...

It would be ironic justice if the oil and gas sector in and around the Gaspe realized that they would be hit just as hard as the west by Mucliar's enviromental plans.
I wonder how many ridings around there the NDP can afford to lose?

Don said...

I really think as an autoworker, from what I know, that profit sharing will be in the next contract. I don't think that this quite had anything to do with the closing of the GM plant, in that it would be foolish for GM to do that knowing that negotiations are only a few months away, and Ken Lewenza has already given hints in the newspaper a couple months ago that the CAW may have to change traditional bargaining.

paulsstuff said...

Actually Don Lewenza stated at the press conference the CAW will not budge on it's stance of wage increases versus profit-sharing.

Don said...

When was this? I read this maybe 2 months ago in the Windsor Star.

Don said...

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/1221254309/ID=2241603935

Check out this CBC interview if you get some time, Paul. Haven't had time to hear the whole thing, probably will tomorrow.

paulsstuff said...

Thanks for the link Don. Lewenza answered a question after the GM announcement, and stated then the CAW would not accept profit-sharing and forego wage increases.

The Windsor Star ran a story probably 3-4 months ago taking Lewenza to task on the very issue of wage increases in the upcoming negotiations

Don said...

http://www.globalnews.ca/q++a/6442652797/story.html

This is a Global Q/A with Ken Lewenza. Scroll down the page, they ask if the CAW will accept profit sharing, he states at this time it's too early to answer that.
So, from what I'm reading so far, Ken Lewenza is not throwing profit sharing out the window. At least I hope not!