Monthly Archives: October 2009

10.07.09
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U.S. truck plant idling on Canadian tax dollars

Ontario taxpayers have provided the U.S. owners of a Chatham truck plant with millions of dollars to keep it open, but the government won’t disclose job and production commitments for the operation that has now remained idle for more than three months.

Economic Development and Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello said Tuesday she couldn’t reveal whether International Truck and Engine Corp. had breached its commitments at the Navistar assembly plant in Chatham.

Pupatello said in an interview that terms of the deal remain confidential and the information could affect contract talks between the company and union during the current shutdown.

“It puts us in an awkward position because of the discussions between the company and the labour force,” she added. “Clearly, disclosure could give one (side) an advantage and that’s not our role.”

U.S.-based parent Navistar International stopped truck production at the end of June when management and the Canadian Auto Workers hit an impasse in bargaining.
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10.05.09
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GM plans Caprice police car to rival Ford

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General Motors Co. will revive the Caprice name as a rear-wheel-drive police car in 2011, expanding the list of competitors to Ford Motor Co.’s ubiquitous Crown Victoria cop cruiser as Ford weighs whether or not to close the Canadian factory that builds the model.

GM said Monday it would bring back the Caprice 15 years after it stopped making it for law-enforcement customers.

The sedan, equipped with either a V6 or V8 engine, will be made in Australia on the same underpinnings as the Ontario-built Chevrolet Camaro. GM says the vehicle’s 112-cubic-foot interior is larger than Ford’s top-selling model.

“We feel like given its product strength, it’s going to be a major player,” said GM spokesman Brian Goebel.

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10.04.09
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Province disputes Lake Erie wind project

Neither of the companies that announced the transfer of development rights for a massive wind farm on Lake Erie owns those rights, Ontario authorities told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources disputed accounts offered the day before by a U.S. company, which said it had acquired and was selling the rights to operate giant wind turbines on the Canadian half of Lake Erie, and a Canadian company that said it was buying those rights.

Utah-based Wasatch Wind Inc. said it was transferring rights to a 4,400-megawatt “offshore wind prospect” to Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. of Calgary, Alberta.

Canadian Hydro, a publicly traded company, affirmed in a separate statement that it was acquiring those rights. The pact received widespread news coverage in Canada.
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See also “Canadian Hydro plans offshore wind farm in Lake Erie”

10.03.09
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Suncor rekindles expansion of Sarnia ethanol plant

Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO) said on Friday it has revived plans for a C$120 million ($111 million) expansion of its Sarnia, Ontario, ethanol plant in another sign the chill in energy investments is easing.

Suncor said the project would double output of the renewable fuel additive to 400 million litres (106 million gallons) a year by late 2010 or early 2011.

The company deferred the project at the start of the year as financial and energy markets skidded. It was initially to have been completed by the end of this year.

Construction will create 350 jobs in the Sarnia-Lambton area of southern Ontario.
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10.03.09
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Mayors suspend resolution to retaliate against Buy American

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Canada’s mayors are withdrawing their threat to boycott suppliers from the United States in retaliation of the Buy American laws.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says it won’t enact a resolution passed in June because municipal leaders see progress in talks between the two countries.

In a statement Saturday, federation president Basil Stewart said the mayors want to give negotiators in the talks the time and space to reach a successful conclusion.

“We are encouraged by the talks now under way between Canadian and U.S. officials and want to give them the time and space to reach a successful outcome,” he said.

“These talks can and should lead to a fair and mutually-beneficial agreement.”
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10.02.09
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Ford Canada’s labour costs highest in world

Hourly labour costs at Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. (F-N6.84-0.13-1.87%) manufacturing operations are about $16 (U.S.) higher than similar costs at U.S. plants, sources close to the negotiations between the auto maker and the Canadian Auto Workers union said Friday.

Ford’s labour costs in Canada are higher than those anywhere else in the world, the sources said, meaning it’s difficult to make new investment commitments for its operations, such as the new products the CAW is seeking for a plant in St. Thomas, Ont., that is at the top of the endangered list.

“The hyper-competitive nature of this business globally means you just cannot be the highest-cost labour jurisdiction on the planet and expect those kinds of guarantees,” one source familiar with the discussions said.
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10.02.09
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The Leafs, a parking ticket and the administration of justice

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What’s more likely to transpire first — a new consolidated courthouse for St. Thomas and Elgin or the Leafs returning to respectability?
With their impressive preseason record (faded somewhat by an opening night loss to the Habs, of all teams) the latter may be the safer bet.
That possibility prompted local barrister and solicitor Mervin Riddell to vent his frustration via a letter to City Scope.
“I urge city council to end the impasse with the province and support the construction of a new consolidated court facility,” he writes.
Ah, but here’s the kicker.
“At a location other than the 4 Wellington St. (existing Elgin County courthouse) location. The city’s lack of support for a new location will, in my respectful opinion, only continue the present delay and the absolute embarrassment of the facilities already in place.”
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10.02.09
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Environmental impact of ethanol fuel overstated, government warned

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Ottawa’s push to use high-level ethanol fuel in cars is doing little or nothing to cut Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions nor will it, says a government briefing note prepared for Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and obtained by Canwest News Service.

Moreover, government officials have warned Raitt that giving automakers credits toward new fuel efficiency standards by making cars that can use environmentally friendly E85 fuel will not actually reduce emissions because those cars will never actually use the ‘green’ fuel and will continue to use regular gasoline.
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