There has been a lot going on in Canada since my last post but the booming economy has also caught up with me, which means I have little free time. To begin with, I would like to sincerely thank my American friends for driving SUVs to Walmart to buy a quart of milk and voting GOP. Few of my American neighbours would realise that Canada is the biggest (by far) exporter of oil to the USA and this has caused our economy to boom and our dollar to hit US$1.07 today. Exploration and pipleline building is hitting new records so I don't see the boom ending any time soon.

Much of the thanks for this can be traced to good ole' GW the Idiot, who is fighting an unwinnable war on printed money. This war also has the effect of jacking oil prices to unreasonable highs; you don't have to be Einstein to realise that America is in Iraq to LIMIT oil supplies and thus keep prices high. If America were to leave Iraq, the government there, which incidently hates the Americans as much as anyone else there, would clean up the mess in about six months. It would then start pumping oil at the rate of 4,000,000 barrels a day or so, which would cut the price of oil in half and really not benefit us pesky Canucks or GW's oil buddies. Meanwhile, Canuckistan continues to run budget surpluses in every level of government and give meaningful tax cuts to working stiffs so they can go out and spend even more.

There is a downside to this for us, of course. The auto companies in Canada, especially Chrysler, are being hit hard. When I worked for Chrysler I was stunned when I saw what they were introducing onto the market. Big trucks, cars and SUVs. We all knew then that Chrysler would be fucked in a few years. And guess what? It is and announced another wave of plant closures yesterday. This of course elicited the brilliant response from Canadian Auto Worker's CEO Buzz (I am a Moron) Hargrove:

The real problem, he insisted, is a flood of imports from Japan and South Korea that are displacing Detroit Three vehicles in their home market. Problems in Canada are aggravated by the high value of the Canadian dollar, he added.

Buzz, you are an idiot. The real problem is the "Big Three" are not building products people want to buy when gas is over $1.00 a litre. Further, most of the "Japanese" cars sold in Canada are built here. There are now 35,000 Toyota workers in Ontario and they and Honda are expanding here. This, Buzzie-boy, is almost exactly the same number of members you have in your union. Fact is, Buzzinder, there have never been more auto manufacturing jobs in Canada as there are now, they just couldn't be bothered paying part of their salaries to listen to you hurl baloney.

Here is yet another snippet of Buzz-esque Wisdom:

"There's a crisis in manufacturing," he told reporters yesterday, lambasting the federal government for cutting taxes and Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge for not reducing interest rates to halt the rise in the value of the dollar.

I guess flunking out of grade nine and workin' on the line makes Buzzie an economist. If the Bank of Canada were to cut rates our blasting economy would overheat even more and we would get unacceptable inflation. The reducing tax part is part of the Leftie Mantra, where it is, for some reason, always good to raise taxes and never good to cut them. In fact, Buzzola, the GST cut will help big ticket purchaces like cars and the income tax cuts will leave average Canadians with more money in their pockets. They are just not going to buy hulking monsters like the Pacifica and the Magnum that cost $100 to fill up. Chrysler employees like myself knew that when those models were introduced. Hell, none of us drove Chryslers anyway, which our brilliant employer should have sold us at cost as free advertising, Duhhhhhh! The only crisis we have, Buzzdom, is morons like you preaching the status quo. The days of dropping out of school and heading to the line are over, Buzzerinni, and anybody who is stupid enough not to realise it is a retarded as you are. I got some bad news for you, Buzzdumb: The bank of Canada is much more likely to raise rates next time to cool the economy down.

Buzzola, I am going to have to give it to you straight: the decline of the "Big Three" started 30+ years ago when they, in spite of the evidence that was plain to see, condinued to build gas guzzlers that were put together so badly they fell apart faster than you could both the shit back on them. That was added to the awful customer service culture that permiates all the Big Three, including your union I may add, has caused their demise. Their so called "economy" models like the Cavalier, Escort and Neon were such pieces of shit they were the best advertisements Toyota and Honda ever had.

Perhaps, Buzzoleum, you should ask Joe Canadian what he wants wants from his ride. I happen to be Joe Canadian, and I will tell you:

"I want a car that is reliable, drives well, is versatile and does not cost much. I want a car that gets 30mpg in Vancouver traffic and 45mpg on the highway. If it does have a warranty issue, I want a dealer to actually fix it instead of arguing with each other who pays for the repair. Finally, I want a car equipped the way I want it, not the way some bean counter says it should be."

Buzzeener, I found that in a Korean car.