There’s some very good news out of Oshawa.
And I suspect Pierre Poilievre isn’t going to know what the hell to do with it.
GM is putting another C$144 million into its Oshawa Assembly plant as part of a larger Canadian investment program.
More importantly, Oshawa is getting production of the next-generation GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickup alongside the Chevrolet Silverado HD already built there.
That’s Canadian production.
Canadian workers.
Canadian investment.
And it is happening while Donald Trump has been doing everything he can to drag auto manufacturing out of Canada and into the United States.
You would think every Canadian political leader could agree this is good news.
But there’s a problem.
Pierre has a story to sell
Poilievre has spent a lot of time lately pushing essentially the same message…
Mark Carney has done nothing.
Carney is failing.
Get rid of Carney.
And, conveniently enough, replace him with Pierre Poilievre.
Fair enough.
He’s Leader of the Opposition.
Opposing the government comes with the furniture.
But there’s a difference between opposing the government and becoming so invested in the government’s failure that good news for Canada becomes bad news for your political campaign.
And I think Poilievre is getting dangerously close to that line.
Because the Canadian economy doesn’t give a damn about campaign slogans.
Either somebody invests in an Oshawa factory or they don’t.
Either Canadian workers build trucks or they don’t.
Either production stays in this country or it leaves.
And GM just made its decision.
I’m not giving Carney GM’s cheque
Let’s keep this straight.
Mark Carney didn’t personally convince GM executives to dig through the couch cushions and find $144 million.
The investment is GM’s.
The workers and Unifor played a major role in securing these commitments through their new collective agreement.
They deserve credit.
But something else is also true.
Carney’s government has been explicitly trying to accomplish exactly this.
Earlier this year, the government announced an auto strategy aimed at getting companies that sell vehicles in Canada to build and invest in Canada.
That’s the policy.
And now GM is investing more money in Canada and bringing additional production to Oshawa.
So I’m not interested in pretending Carney personally built the pickup truck.
But I’m equally uninterested in pretending this happened in some alternate universe where the Canadian government doesn’t exist.
Especially when the United States is actively trying to lure those same jobs south.
That’s Pierre’s problem
If your argument is…
Carney could be doing better.
Fine.
Make the case.
If your argument is…
I would do things differently.
Excellent.
Tell us what you’d do.
But if your political strategy depends on convincing Canadians that nothing good is happening under Mark Carney, you’re going to have an increasingly difficult time explaining away good news when it happens.
And this is where I’d actually like Pierre Poilievre to surprise me.
Don’t give Carney credit.
Don’t praise the Liberals.
Don’t even say Mark’s name if it causes physical discomfort.
Just say…
This is good news for Canadian auto workers.
That’s it.
No campaign commercial.
No “Carney catastrophe.”
No explanation about how everything would have been 700% better if Pierre were Prime Minister.
Just celebrate a Canadian win.
Because here’s the question I’m becoming increasingly interested in…
Can Pierre Poilievre acknowledge good news for Canada when that good news is politically inconvenient for Pierre Poilievre?
That’s a different test of leadership.
Opposition leaders are supposed to hold governments accountable.
They’re supposed to challenge policies.
They’re supposed to point out failures.
What they’re not supposed to do is need Canada to fail so they can win.
And Canadian politics has become far too infected with that mentality.
If the economy improves under the other guy, bad.
If investment arrives under the other guy, awkward.
If jobs are created under the other guy, change the subject.
That’s not governing.
That’s cheering for your goalie to let one in because you don’t like the coach.
Canada needs more of this
Forget Carney and Poilievre for a minute.
This is what I want to see.
More manufacturing in Canada.
More Canadian resources processed in Canada.
More Canadian components turned into finished Canadian products.
More factories.
More skilled jobs.
More investment.
More Canadian companies selling to the rest of the world instead of building our entire economy around one customer south of the border.
Trump has done Canada one favour.
He reminded us what happens when you become too dependent on somebody who suddenly decides your dependence is leverage.
We’re learning.
Oshawa is one piece of that much larger puzzle.
And $144 million isn’t going to transform the Canadian economy by itself.
But another truck being built in Ontario instead of having its production pulled south?
I’ll take that win.
Then I’ll ask…
What’s next?
GeezerWise Says…
I don’t expect Pierre Poilievre to thank Mark Carney.
I don’t expect him to give Carney credit.
Frankly, I don’t care whether the two of them exchange Christmas cards.
What I’d like to know is whether the man who still wants to become Prime Minister can celebrate Canadian workers getting more job security…
and another major vehicle being built in Oshawa without first figuring out how to make the announcement about himself.
Because sometimes good news for Canada should simply be good news for Canada.
And anybody who wants to lead this country ought to be big enough to say so.
That’s the job.
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Good news. Oshawa was hit hard when GM left. I'll spread the news to my family who'll be happy. Thanks Fred.