Toyota has announced that it will be moving its Corolla plant from Canada to Mexico. In turn they are using the plant in London Ontario to produce one of its more luxury and less purchased brands.
This will mean a loss of job for middle class Canada. The North American Free Trade Agreement has been one sided in my opinion. Canada has lost many middle class
manufacturing jobs since signing this agreement. One of the biggest problems with NAFTA has been wages, benefits, safety, and working conditions are not part of this agreement.
There are things that make this agreement unfair between Canada and the United States and Mexico. Having travelled down to Washington State, the biggest logging truck I saw had only twenty tires under it. The smallest truck up here has twenty-six tires and they go up to thirty tires. In Mexico most of their commercial vehicles if up here in Canada would be towed directly to the scrap yard as unfixable.
Having traveled to Mexico I was flabbergasted by the living conditions of the poor - bear this in mind there is no middle class. People lived in houses with no roofs, toilets and water quality is very unhealthy. If they own animals they sleep in the house with them. The Mexican people are not seeing the true benefits that these jobs should be giving them. Worker wages may have increased a little but do not reflect the increased profits made by these international companies.
Last year Canada and the city of London, Ont., lost a Catipillar engine plant to the U.S. in which was a state that has Right to Work legislation. Right to Work legislation generally means lowest wages gets the work. When these companies move assets and plants they normally do this with government assistance.
The Liberal government under Jean Chretien campaigned years ago saying they would renegotiate the Free Trade Agreement. When they got into power they never did. The Conservatives are responsible for the negotiations of the NAFTA agreement.
Because our government has neglected insuring that wages, benefits, safety, and working conditions are not part of the Free Trade Agreements Canadians are disadvantaged.
We are losing our children's future. If Canada keeps signing one-sided agreements, we are in danger of reducing Canada to a third world have-not power.
Stan New
Prince George
