Last week, General Motors Canada announced plans to begin making face masks at the partially closed Oshawa Assembly plant in Ontario. Now, the automaker has received some of the equipment necessary to begin producing face masks and will begin churning out the much-needed personal protective equipment ASAP.
“On Friday, April 24, the federal government signed a letter of intent with GM Canada to produce face masks at our Oshawa plant for front-line health care workers and other Canadians,” GM Canada said in a prepared statement. “We are moving quickly to complete the contract, and last night the equipment needed to produce the masks arrived in Oshawa.”
GM Canada’s initial announcement indicated the automaker had walled off a section of Oshawa Assembly to produce the face masks. Oshawa Assembly’s vehicle production line came to a halt last December, but the plant remains partially operational for stamping and other parts production.
The automaker also said previously that it plans “to manufacture approximately one million masks per month at cost for the Canadian government with an estimate of 50 employees supporting two shifts of production.” GM Canada is working with Canadian labor union Unifor to get the project off the ground.
GM Canada’s parent company managed to get its face mask production line in Warren, Michigan up and running in just a few weeks’ time and has since expanded the operation to produce face shields, medical gowns and aerosol boxes. GM Canada is only planning to make face masks at Oshawa Assembly at this time, however.
As of this writing, Canada has 52,056 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with Quebec and Ontario the hardest-hit provinces.
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Comments
California’s Governor Gavin Newsom made a deal with a car company based in China to make 3 Million face mask for the price of $1 Billion; but the worst part is that the face mask are just the disposable type and not the N95 meaning California is essentially paying $1 Billion for $3 Million worth of merchandise (stupidity reigns).
Well that is California for you…… should we expect better?
Next they will want the rest of us to bail them out as they sink in bankruptcy paying for their errors.
Who are the idiots with the thumbs down…. its clear Cally-Fornia is a mess… Same for NY, ILL, CT, RI and DE… blue states…
So, how many red states are making equipment?.
Thank You, for this kind action in activating one of the plants of the former G.M.Of Canada operations, and our urgent need for face shields to protect front line health care workers ,placed into a small area of this top notch former Oshawa Assembly Plant ,we appreciate your help !Maybe you could reconsider new assembly in our future base our Medicare universal system and .70 cent dollar ,excellent facility ,and available workers that built with pride any former models ever assigned to Oshawa ,especially with the new paint shop if you have a desire for quality build in a nation that is a friend and neighbour of the U.S.?
Fact check – if some of you even care about reality
300 not 3 million.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses what it will take to lift coronavirus restrictions during a news conference on April 14. Newsom has committed the state to a $990-million agreement with a China-based electric car company to produce 200 million protective masks.(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)