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GM pledges to invest $290 million at Ontario plant
Fresh from the news that Ford would be investing cash into its Canadian facilities, our friends north of the border got even more good news, this time from GM. The General is investing $290 million in all, including $245 million at its St. Catharines plant, which will make six-speed transmissions. The move will ensure the employment of the 300 workers at the facility. GM also plans to invest $40 million for environmental research at its Canadian engineering center in Oshawa. GM also announced that it would be building a hybrid vehicle at its Oshawa car plant at an undisclosed future date.The Canadian government is showing its gratitude by not requiring early payment for $200 million in loans that is owed by the General. The loan was triggered early when GM announced the closure of its Oshawa truck plant, meaning the General wouldn't meet minimal employment targets.
[Source: Tradingmarkets]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
No Welfare for GM 8:56AM (9/10/2008)
Hey, i am all for it. I mean after all Canadians are ALMOST Americans.
"GM also announced that it would be building a hybrid vehicle at its Oshawa car plant at an undisclosed future date."-----------When GM reached a deal with UAW few months ago, didn't the deal include a commitment from GM to build most hybrids in USA?
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John 9:44AM (9/10/2008)
Although I love my American neighbours and friends dearly, I am very proud of the fact that Canadians are NOT almost Americans. We are very different in so many ways, and I for one would never want to lose those differences.....except maybe the French only signs and language in Quebec thing.
why not the LS2LS7? 12:34PM (9/10/2008)
Now that one of our VP candidates calls herself a "hockey mom", what will Canadians turn to next to try to justify how they aren't like Americans?
I guess you'll need Molson to make up a new laundry list explain what a Canadian is by simply listing a bunch of things typically thought of as American and saying "not" in front of them.
SPG 8:01PM (9/10/2008)
No Welfare for GM
You genius, really. You are. Wow.
I'm thinking you were trying to be funny but you do understand North America and South America right?
Canadians, residends of the United States of America, Mexicans, and a few others are Americans.
It's a continent.
So Canadians are not almost Americans, they 100% fully are. I think you ment that Canada is almost part of the USA and in many allied counties things seem that way.
However they are very different places with a border.
John 9:34AM (9/10/2008)
What do you mean by "north of the border"? This is the Internet. There are no borders.
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Judy Zik 11:55AM (9/10/2008)
What this says to me is GM blinked. They thought they could get away with screwing the Ontario and Canadian governments after taking bailouts and then closing a huge plant. It was mostly a short sighted panic based on the surging Canadian dollar that they made the mistake of thinking they could do without too much fuss and blame it on the economy. Unfortunately for GM it was a huge PR blunder in Canada and neither the Federal nor Provincial governments were in a forgiving mood. Now there is an election in Canada right now and GM didn't want to become an election issue so they decided to cave. Not a bad decision. The Canadian market is the size of California and GM's Oshawa plant has a history as the best GM plant for quality. This is a good move for all parties though governments would do well to not trust anything from GM even if it is in writing.
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why not the LS2LS7? 12:36PM (9/10/2008)
The population of Canada is the same as California, but the size of the market (in expenditures) isn't quite the same. At least historically the standard of living in Canada has been lower than that of the US, while California's is above the average.
I bet the rise in the Canadian dollar has closed some of this gap though.
John 1:38PM (9/10/2008)
Well, since you asked, check this out.
http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20080625_50113_50113&page=3
Just to peak your interest, the title of this article is "How Canada stole the American Dream".
Also, I'm sure there are lots of hockey moms throughout the US, but they probably don't stop at Tim Horton's for coffee Eh!
John 1:59PM (9/10/2008)
The link above takes you to page 3 of the article. Sorry about that. You might want to start at page 1.
http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20080625_50113_50113&page=1
John 1:48PM (9/10/2008)
Just in case anyone thinks I am in anyway hostile towards the US, let me assure you that the exact opposite is true.
My wife and I have traveled through every US state (including Alaska and Hawaii) on summer roadtrips and we loved every mile and all the American friends we have acquired.
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