Buy Canadian

Makes a lot of sense but I think DAN MACGILLIVRAY makes a good point....everyone must pitch in! Maybe it is time unions cut back on their demands so that the majority of people, who do not belong to unions, can get a better bang for their buck.

Letters to the Editor

PRICE ISN'T ALWAYS RIGHT

Re "TTC's $1.3 billion question," (Point/Counterpoint, Christina Blizzard and Sue-Ann Levy Nov. 14). Justice Denise E. Bellamy's report at the end of the MFP inquiry made specific comments about procurement, and stated clearly price is not the only ingredient of value. She wrote this is one important difference between private sector and public sector procurement -- in the public sector, procurement must often be viewed in the context of a government's overall objectives.

"For example, if a government's policy gives priority to the local economy, a large procurement decision might properly favour a local company that is a bit more expensive but local, so that tax dollars stimulate the local economy," she wrote. "The public is not necessarily always best served by focusing exclusively on price."

Surely this economic crisis has demonstrated that, left to itself, the market can lead to disastrous social consequences, and that government intervention is essential to regulate and direct over-all economic activity.

"Buy Canadian" is not just a patriotic slogan, it is an important component of sound long-term economic policy. Canada has a significant base in mass transit vehicle production: Bombardier has plants in Ontario and Quebec, and Alstom has a Quebec facility. The Thunder Bay plant alone currently produces vehicles and components for Ontario, Vancouver, Minnesota, Malaysia and South Korea. The high speed tram transporting passengers to the Beijing Olympics, and now in general use, features components manufactured in Thunder Bay.

This is not about supporting a "sunset" industry, but rather about ensuring a sector with a viable future has a reasonably secure base from which to develop economies of scale, including needed equipment and engineering investments. Governments of all levels have an important role to play in this, as in other sectors of our economy.

PAUL PUGH

PRESIDENT, CAW LOCAL 1075

THUNDER BAY

(It's a worthwhile debate and Levy and Blizzard put the sides out there well)

BLIZZARD WON THIS ONE

Wow. I am now completely convinced Sue-Ann Levy has never given a rat's behind about anyone who has to work for a living in this city. She has lost it. I'll bet she fully endorses the Wally Mart scale of pay for its employees. Let's force everyone to have to work for those kind of wages, eh? That would really help anyone trying to live in Toronto. Does Levy think Canadians, Ontarians or Torontonians should stand idly by and watch our jobs leave this country, and then somehow have the money to buy goods while surviving on minimum wages? On this debate, Christina Blizzard clearly won, and presented a much more logical and "common sense" approach.

D. E. BARRETT

(Buy Ontario is usually a good policy)

OUR PEOPLE, OUR RESOURCES

Ontario has slipped from its position as a "have" province to a "have-not." Without pointing fingers, this is the result of Ontario's declining manufacturing sector and declining demand for Ontario's resources. A project of the magnitude of this TTC deal is a positive way to put people back to work without opening another coffee shop or big box mall. Putting people to work in manufacturing jobs with real wages and demand from our resource sector is the way to turn things around. Sue-Ann Levy is wrong. There is no good deal for taxpayers by promoting unemployment at home to save a couple of bucks by outsourcing a major chunk of infrastructure renewal. Who is going to pay for the welfare and social service costs? What is wrong with union scale pay anyway? I agree there should be a tendering process but let's level the playing field. A condition of the tendering process can be that the manufacturing be Ontario-based and the resources be from Canada if not available in Ontario. I agree with Christina Blizzard. Let's get Ontario working again.

DEREK BIGNELL

EAST YORK

(There's a 25% Buy Ontario clause in the call for proposals, the real question is how high should that number be)

TIME TO FACE REALITY

When the union leaders make impassioned pleas for taxpayers to bail out their respective industries, they never seem to mention the real reason the Big 3 is in such a mess, It's the extremely high cost of labour and benefits -- and I was a long-term chief steward of the CAW. Lets face it, paying $37 per hour to unskilled labourers doing assembly work is no longer feasible. Union workers have got to come to the reality that to keep their jobs they are going to have to learn to take a cut in pay. A decent wage is better than no wage. If they don't soon come to this conclusion, the only thing they'll need to know for their new career is "do you want fries with that." If the auto industry is not made sustainable, we will all lose a great deal.

BRUCE STANLEY

LANGTON, ONT.

(That's quite a reality check from a former CAW steward)

STUBBON POSITION

Around the globe, people in every walk of life are feeling the bite in the latest economic crisis. The U.S. has stated its intention to help out the Big 3 automakers provided they do some restructuring to ensure the bailout will have some tangible effects down the road. Canada has considered doing the same. Taxpayers shouldn't be expected to provide money without some strings attached. CAW President Ken Lewenza said the union will not give any concessions from workers' pay or benefits. It seems the CAW is perfectly content to let the employer and the taxpayer feel all the pain without giving in on any of their own perks. What will they say if their stubborness leads to massive layoffs? He'd rather all his members are unemployed than give a concession or two on pay or benefits?

BRIAN SMITH

MISSISSAUGA

(All his members being unemployed would sure slam CAW finances)

TAX FOREIGN VEHICLES

I won't dwell on the auto industry's "give us cash or else" blackmail situation, but here is another idea. Just charge each and every foreign vehicle owner $100 to renew their sticker or some other tax when purchasing a vehicle. How long would that last before the auto giants have their money. Just think of how many millions of offshore cars are on our roads.

MIKE KRAJCIK

(So does a Honda made in Alliston pay?)

EVERYONE MUST PITCH IN

"Any money for the auto industry should not be viewed as a bailout but an investment in the Canadian economy" said CAW national president Ken Lewenza. I agree the industry needs help but would also like to see the CAW's Big Three membership make some sacrifices too. I've worked tier one and tier two sectors of the auto industry for a number of years, and believe me, we've made sacrifices. Before the credit crunch and the auto market tanked out, auto workers at GM, Ford and Chrysler were the equivalent of the Wall Street brokers who made more money than most of us could fathom. Just as Wall Street and Bay Street shouldn't be bailed out with their golden parachutes intact, auto workers shouldn't be bailed out so they can go back to being the fat cats of industry. They are overpaid and under worked. Let Lewenza offer a claw back of $15 per hour and more production and maybe I'd support tax dollars being used to help the auto sector. I make $18/hr and have to buy a vehicle made by someone making $35; is there any wonder the old auto industry is going the way of the Dodo? Parasitic unions and stupid management need to take the blame here.

DAN MACGILLIVRAY

INGERSOLL

(Auto workers under attack)