Requiem for a corporation

Commentary by Patrick Keller
for Smoky River Express

General Motors has finally filed for bankruptcy protection. That doesn’t mean that it’s “Goodnight Irene” for the auto giant, but it does add decibels to the long-audible death rattle emanating from Detroit.

Optimists argue that bankruptcy will be good for GM, despite the crippling blow to consumer’s confidence. Finally, they say, the company will have some breathing space. It can stand back, reassess itself and come out stronger than before. Of course, another $9.5 billion of Canadian’s tax dollars will certainly help alleviate the pain and guilt it might be feeling, and go some ways to finding new solutions to old problems. Add that to the already $40 billion dropped off the end of the big three wharf this year. To what end?

Charity aside, one has to wonder how long a company deserves to exist if it is not providing products of value for consumers and profits for its shareholders.

“Too big to fail” is word play. Clearly, they have failed. Too big to fail just means that now we all bare responsibility to prop them up. Those people who bought smaller, more efficient or cheaper vehicles are now being asked to subsidize the mistakes of an out-of-touch corporation. Come to think of it, I don’t remember ever being asked.

With another $9.5 billion dollars of our money invested, Canadians now own roughly 12 per cent of a company that is worth negative $190 billion. Gee, thanks. The next time I want investment advice, I’ll ask my three-year-old son.

Speaking of children, here’s a lesson I’ll be teaching mine: Favouring autoworkers with exceptional wages, benefits and pension packages is unfair to the millions of Canadians who work for much lower wages and benefits and have no protection from job loss.

Besides, when was the last time Canadians were asked to bail out an American company?

Don’t be misled: If GM fails in the US, there won’t be a “GM Canada” no matter how much money we throw at it.

Critics say that GM represents everything wrong with modern capitalism: They make products that are bad for the planet, bad for working people and bad for the economy. They have squeezed twice the labour out of a force half the size it was 20 years ago, and in the process, become dependant on planned obsolescence.

Sometimes, the best thing to do with a lame horse like that is to let it die.

So, now that I’m part owner of a car company, I’d like to put forward some ideas that could help turn it around. Create a division that builds smaller, lighter vehicles without internal combustion engines. Build them for a commuter market that can actually afford them. In the process, you’d create or keep many jobs, introduce new technologies and create new markets. But, what do I know? I’m just a lowly shareholder.

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