GM has strong ties to the Oshawa community and it’s hard not to wonder if the corporation itself is in enough trouble for those other partnerships to suffer. Take for instance the General Motors Centre. While the details of the naming rights between GM and the city were never disclosed, it seems fair to suggest that GM has some stake in the facility.

We’ll have to see the outcome of reaction to community support for a facility that bears a name that has lost credibility. And GM’s partnerships don’t end there. The recent pairing with the University of Ontario to establish an Automotive Centre of Excellence, focused on research and development, seems misguided in light of the truck plant closure, if it plans to continue with this initiative.

It’s difficult to trust a company that proves its disloyalty to its front line employees. The decline of the big three automakers and the flooding of imports into the country will force the City of Oshawa to draw new business and diversify its local economy. And it’s incumbent upon the mayor and the councillors to do that.