Ask the Best and Brightest: What Should Samir Ask Buzz?
Basil "Buzz" Hargrove has been active in the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) since its inception in 1984, including sixteen years as President. To put that in perspective: during Buzz' tenure at the top, he's seen five Canadian Prime Ministers, five Ford CEOs, four Chrysler CEOs, four GM CEOs and countless union actions. As I sift through the archived newsbites that capture his soon-to-be legacy, I'm left a little overwhelmed. For better or worse, Hargrove's fingerprints are all over the Canadian automotive lanscape. And tomorrow, at 11 AM in Toronto, I'm sitting across the table from the man himself on your behalf. So I turn to you, our Best and Brightest, for a little help. What should I ask Buzz Hargrove? Obviously, I can't promise I'll forward every question posed here. But if the deal goes down (i.e. Buzz doesn't read this blog post before tomorrow), you know I won't shy away from the tough questions. And neither will Hargrove.
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Ask him too if he has any remorse about the little companies theyve destroyed. Ask too about the communities who are being dreadfully hurt and wont recover for 10- 20 years or more. All the shopkeepers, and little people. He may be able to fool his members, but no non-CAW person believes him . Good ridance to this man. The only thing good you can say, is his CAW replacement is worse! The union-ized auto business of Canada is finished.
Point blank: does he know that Canada is now the most expensive place in the world to build cars? With the Canadian dollar at par to the U.S, the good times are over. Can he smell the coffee? Also, like most Canadians, does he feel that The Order of Canada has been devalued after the once prestigious award was recently given to him and an abortion doctor? Good ridance Buzz.
"Why hasn't the CAW fought for their members to get individual ownership of their retirement savings in a plan like (insert Canadian 401k equivalent here)."
Please ask him where he stands on the all-important question of the unique nature of Quebec. Clearly that is the most important question in Canada and must be asked on all occassions. Furthermore, please make certain that he understands that all automotive jobs should be moved to Quebec from Ontario, as Quebec is a distinct society and has certain divine rights which were not granted to its lessors. Or ask him about the guaranteed 1$ raise from GM back in the 70s, that should be an interesting story.