Do you know why Heinz closed its Leamington plant? Or why Kellogg closed its London, Ontario plant? The plants were old. They had been there for a long time. We are just not privy to the decision making process of a board of directors in another country. Why should they care about Canadian jobs? And, for that matter, why should a Canadian board of directors care about Canadian jobs? Where is the profit in that?
What we have in this country, under a Conservative government, is a right-wing business ethos that says profit is more important than people. Companies are encouraged to move jobs like chess pieces to lowest cost locations. It is an attitude that says unions are gougers and nobody should protect employees from exploitation. It is an attitude that says if Canadians will not do the dirty jobs, we will bring in foreign workers who will. And they can use foreign workers to drive down Canadian wages.
This is the same government that appears to be allowing oil companies to collude on retail gas prices. It is the same government that is restraining environmentalists from addressing concerns about tar sands, pipelines, railroads, and anything producing high carbon emissions. It is a government that seems to be funded by business, run on behalf of business, and sees itself as the devoted supporter of business. It is so devoted that it eliminates food inspectors, railway restrictions, environmental protection, informative statistics or anything else that might get in the way of their friends in business.
And how do you expect business to respond to all this selfless love from the Tories? Are they then going to say “Our employees are a valuable asset and we want to show our appreciation”? Instead, they give fat bonuses to the executives and keep them happy. Foreign-owned companies appreciate the low taxes and continue to sell their products in Canada while moving production to Mexico.
It used to be that it did not matter whether a company was owned in Canada or elsewhere. What really mattered was whether the company acted as a good citizen in the Canadian community. The company recognized the contribution it was making to Canada’s economy and considered that as important as any savings to be made in lower cost manufacturing areas. These were companies that recognized their role in creating an economically strong country.
But what do these companies do when the government discourages good citizenship?
-30-
Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]