BAD NEWS FOR CANADA’S AUTO INDUSTRY GM’s Oshawa operation which was the talking point for U.S. President Donald Trump during the Canada-U.S. trade negotiations, looks to be on the chopping block. The Oshawa plant which is a 45 minute drive east of Toronto produces GM’s Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS and has been in existence since 1953. According to GM’s website, the Oshawa Assembly Plant current employs 2,522 workers with Unifor Local 222. However, in the 1980s the plant employed roughly 23,000 people. In a statement Unifor, the union representing auto workers at the plant, said they have not heard “complete details of the overall announcement” but were told that no cars are set to be assembled at the plant past December 2019.
FARMERS GETTING FOCUSED FOR FEDERAL ELECTION Farmers and agriculture groups are changing their focus from farming to politics now that the harvest is in to get their voices heard in the next round of elections coming up both Provincially and Federally. More than 100 crop growers gathered in Red Deer recently to learn about the political landscape and make plans to work with or against parties with a federal election in the fall of next year and a provincial election in Alberta expected in the spring. Farmers have an opportunity to lobby political parties about important issues like railway access, trade deals and the carbon tax along with a variety of other issues facing farmers.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2018
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