Our petro dollar is causing cold sweats among the Canadian Auto workers Union.
I am not going disagree that the Canadian dollar may be over valued. As a farmer who is dependent on exports, I feel the pressure perhaps even more than the unionized auto workers in Ontario.
However, I disagree with the Canadian Autoworkers and the NDP that the required action is to throttle down production in the energy sector. Instead, what we need to be looking at is using the benefits of the high dollar to invest in more efficient work places and equipment so we can compete more effectively in the global market. On my farm, that process involves looking at opportunity to purchase equipment that reduces labor priced in Canadian dollars and substituting it for equipment that is produced elsewhere.
The Canadian Auto Workers should shift their focus in comparable direction to figure out how to produce a vehicle in Canada using inexpensive imported machinery at a cost that is competitive with anywhere else in the world. To put it bluntly, the CAW has to go all in to drive productivity growth instead of attempting to impede it. That is the path for how they can best represent the long term interests of their members.
