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vity jure. HONORABLE STANLEY RAND ALL INSPECTS OSHAWA TIMES' BUSINESS, INDUSTRIAL REVIEW - « » Secretary Dora Dunbar Shown With Minister of Economics and Development TO SPRAWLING SOUTH PLANT FROM ENNISKILLEN DAYS GM Also Has Big Centennial Year (The following Speech was delivered recently to the Osh- awa Kiwanis Club by Ian Mc- Nab, general - manager, Special Events division, De- partment of Public Relations, General Motors of Canada). I 'happened to mention to someone that not only was 1967 Canada's Centennial but that it was also G. M. of Canada's Cen- tennial. The result? Well, Here I am. I have agreed to under- take to try to tell you some- thing of the history of G. M. in Canada. General Motors of Canada is by far the largest producer of automobiles and trucks in Can- ada. In turn it is a relatively small part of the General Mo- tors Corporation, the largest in- dustrial organization in the world. The corporation's assets, pro- duct revenue and payrolls reach astronomical figures an- nually. Some 700,000 employees, worldwide, serve literally mil- lions of people and through these worldwide operations, G. M. is contributing much to a better and fluer life by mak- ing more and beter things for more people. In all, there are 127 plants in the U. S., seven in Canada and assembly, manufacturing or warehousing operations in 22 other countries. EXAMINE HISTORY I would like to examine with you an outline of the history of the corporation and how it op- erates. The history of the automotive industry on this continent be- gins back in a period 30 years before the turn of this century. It starts with the stories of hundreds of backyard inventors, each seeking to produce the practical horseless carriage. That era of trial and error laid the foundations of an industry which has probably done more to change man's way of life than any other single factor in history. Perhaps it was inevitable that many of these "Experiences" should have gradually converged and been assimilated under one management -- General Motors Corporation. I think perhaps the best way to begin the story of General Motors Corporation is with a young mechanic named Ransom E. Olds, the in- ventor of the Oldsmobile and the father of mass production. HISTORY RECALLED It was while working around his. father's machine shop in Lansing, Michigan, he. became Director Named Fall Of 1965 The Central Ontario, Joint Planning Board appointed Wil- liam McAdams as planning dir- ector in October of 1965. He was former supervisor of the special 'assignments com- munity planning branch, De- partment of Municipal Affairs. He was appointed within four months of the constitution of-the Planning area by the minister. Temporary officers were estab- lished one month later and permanent office space was obtained --in the Oshawa Shopping Centre --for 1966. Regular monthly mecting were held and its first budget- $26,000 -- was adopted for days after the planning directo: was appointed. : ~ ~s h > of great mechanical ability and a three-wheel But the steam, car. hicle,, It wasn't until two years ter that he produced the first Oldsmobile. After this, way for mass production. lowing year. Soon after, the Olds factory was destroyed by fire and it was necessary to have the Ley- land - Faulconer Company make about 2,000 motors for the run- about. This new firm became enthusiastic about the possibili- ties of the automotive industry and this led to the development of the one cylinder Cadillac in 1903. At the turn of the century a great many others became in- terested in the automobile. One of the most outstanding of these was a young Scottish American brilliant ideas. The name of David Buick will forever be as- sociated with the development of the "'Valve-In-Head"' engine. By 1903, the Buick Company stock was on the market. | However, Buick was no busi- ness man and he was soon forced to sell out. A few years after Buick made his start a millionaire carriage builder by the name of William Durant consolidated his many interests in the automotive in- dustry and organized the Gen- eral Motors of New Jersey. The first act of this company in 1908 was to buy out Buick and Olds. At this time Buick was pro- jducing two cylinder and four leylinder cars in the same year, 11908, Buick built nearly 8,500 vehicles, occupying the largest automobile plant in the world at Flint, Michigan. Buick na- turally became the corner stone of General Motors Corporation as we know it today. CYLINDER BUICK McLaughlin cars using two cylinder Buick engines were be- jing built in Oshawa at the same time, During the first half of the following year, the Oakland, a car made in Pontiac, Michigan, jand the Cadillac were added to the General Motors Line. Con- \trol of A. C. Sparkplug was ac- |quired at about the same time. As we mentioned earlier, the first Cadillacs were pyoduced in 1903. Cadillac, by th@ time it joined General Motors, had gained a reputation for preci- sion and in 1912 when it intro- duced Charles Kettering's Elec- tric starter, it added to its al- ready immense prestige. All through 1909, General Mo- tors had been in a stage of ra- pid development and readjust- ment. By the end of 1909, G. M. had acquired. or substantially controlled more than twenty automobile and accessory com- yanies, One of these, however as not Ford, but only becaus« Billy' Durant's bankers re- ised to put up the money to uy the Ford Motor Company. obsessed with engines and the self-propulsion of carriages. As early as 1887 he had developed limitations of the Steamer soon led Olds to apply himself, in 1894, to the develop- ment of a gasoline powered ve- and many disappointments la- Olds then established the Olds Motor Works and began to clear the Olds concentrated on a one cylinder run-about -- A car s0|Buick president until 1916 and simple that it could be operated by anyone. In his first year 1901, Olds sold 400 cars and an- nounced that he would boost his production to 4,000 the fol- jerately priced. And the de- ganized in 1903, but by 1909 was up for sale for $2,000.000. BANKERS HELPED By 1910 the rapid absorption of the many companies, had extended the G. M. organiza- tion to where it was in urgent need of a transfusion to sur- vive. This transfusion took the shape of a substantial loan from eastern bankers and once again on a sound footing, General Mo- tors continued to grow. At this point, we'd like to take the time to mention three great Names. Charles W. Nash, was had, as works manager, a man named Walter P. Chrysler. Nash later became head of the whole General Motors but left to start an independent com- pany. Walter Chrysler, who as Buick works manager once occupied a cot in the factory so that he could work 24 hours a day, be- came Buick president in 1916. In 1919 he left General Motors and a little later reportedly paid $170,000,000 for the limp- ing Dodge Brothers, incorporat- ed, Next there was W. C. Durant. Billy Durant was the man who took over the $75,000 Buick com- pany and parlayed it into the giant that is General Motors today. When Durant lost con- trol of G. M. in 1910 he em- barked on an undertaking that was almost cinderella - like in its success. In 1909, while still with G. M., Durant's eye had been caught by a well-known dirt-track ra- cer whose name was Louis Chevrolet. Durant asked Louis Chevro- let to design a car that would have a popular appeal. Chevro- let designed a six-cylinder pas- senger car and in 1911 Durant organized the Chevrolet Motor Company and began production of Chevrolets in Flint. Chevrolet sold for cash every car it could produce and as the money rolled in, Durant saw how he might regain control of G. M. Through a gigantic and dramatic stock transfer, he re- turned as president of General Motors in 1916, In all American industrial history there was never any- thing to equal the rise of Chev- rolet from an experiment in 1910-11 to the position it held in 1918 when Durant's dream was realized and Chevrolet became a part of General Motors Cor- poration. Chevrolet had made $6,000.000 in six years. Buts this was only the beginning. The product was good. It was mod- mand was there. So great was the measure of public accept- ance that by 1927, Chevrolet had become the world's leader in production, @ position it still enjoys today. TOP POSITIONS General Motors swung into the post-war boom of 1919 full of confidence. Its record of war production -- even in the field of aeroplane engines -- was good, and the demand for auto- mobiles was tremendous. In 1926, General Motors bought the Fisher Body Corpor- ation. I think that it must have been about this time that quite a number of motor car compan- ies took the count. WHO OWNS G. M. General Motors is owned by over 1,300,00 shareholders in vanada and the United States n fact,General Motors has fa more (shareholders than em- WAR RECORD -- a broad cross section of the two countries. And over half of the Individual owners are women. No individual owns as much as 144% of the outstand- ing common stock. Shares are also widely held by institutions or organizations each of which represents a great number of individuals. General Motors of Canada has roots exception. Its roots go back to confederation -- to a roads community of Enniskillen His name was Laughlin. ENNISKILLEN RECALLED upon production forced abandonment, in 1877, of the small Enniskillen workshop. In its move to the nearby town of Oshawa, the McLaughlin car- riage business, operating con- sistently on a basis of "one grade only and that the best" soon outdistanced any other in its line. Before it entered 'the motorized field, the business produced more than 270,000 car- riages, buggies and sleighs and had grown to be the largest carriage works in the British Empire. In 1907, Robert McLaughlin's two sons, George W. and R. Samuel, who had become as- sociated with the business, de- cided that motor cars should be built in Oshawa. According- ly, they obtained the rights from W. C. Durant to use the Buick engine in their McLaugh- lin car. The first of these, the famed McLaughlin model. F took to the road in 1908 -- 154 cars were produced that year. By 1915, the company had pro- gressed to the extent that Mr. R. S. McLaughlin was able to reach an agreement with Wil- carriage maker in the Cross- in South - Eastern Ontario. This man staked his business career on a reputation for fine crafts- manship and artistic design. Robert Mc- Within a decade, the demands the awa-built car in 1937, and when war came in 1939, G. M. of Can- ada had already built and test- ed several types of military ve- hicles. Civilian passenger car schedules were gradually pared down until in early 1942 the last of these came off the line for the duration of the war. G.M.'s Canadian plants went on to turn out hundreds of thousands) of weapons -- mili- tary vehitles of all kinds; tank hulls, Oerlikon gun mounts, six pounder and machine guns, Mosquito fuselages and engine nacelles -- all bearing the stamp of G, M.. of Canada craftsman- ship, To date, more than 5 million |Oshawa-built cars and trucks |have been turned out. Rivalling this tremendous achievement of production has been the growth of an aggressive sales organi- zation which has captured the Canadian market for General Motors. Three out of every five new cars on Canadian Highways over the years, have been pro- ducts of General Motors. Long before the last war, other units of the corporation Oshawa is a highly industrial- ized, moden, progressive city. Its population has grown from 50,412 in 1956 to 73,770 in 1965. In the same period the number of families in the city has in- creased from 13,335 to 15,964. Reflecting this growth is the activity of the Oshawa branch and loan office of the Central Mortgage and Housing Corpora- tion. In 1954 the banch proces- sed $2,573,631 in N.H.A. loans; in 1965 the total was $13,318,013 covering 618 loans for 1,034 housing units. : Despite a temporary country- wide lull in house-building ac- tivities in 1966, long-term pres- pects indicate continued growth especially for Oshawa. The city now has ten manufacturing firms with at least 200 or more employees. The largest of these is Geneal Motors of Canada which had 22,000 employees on its payroll in March, 1966. of the city continue at 49% ver decade, one forecast says the population of greater Osh- awa will be 115,000 by 1981. CMHC list set up an office in Oshawa in 1959 with John B. Raine as manager. Current manager of the CMHC office, located-onr the second floor of the Oshawa Shopping Cehter, is Roland H. Specer. "For many people," says Spencer, "Central Mortgage and |Housing Corporation and NHA insured mortgage loans are syn- onymous. But the Corporation has many other functions as well. Take public housing, for instance, Despite a high level of prosperity there is a need in Oshawa for rental housing at rents within lower income lev- els. CMHC has helped Oshawa do this." Here are the examples he cites: Federal-Proyincial Housing -- Should the current growth rate In August, 1961 CMHC helped By HON. C. M. DRURY Minister of Industry I am pleased to have this opportunity in Centennial Year to send greetings to the Community of Oshawa through the Business and In- dustrial Review of the Osh- awa Times. During 1966, your. city shared with the rest of Can- ada in record levels of pro- duction, sales and employ- ment. I take pride in the fact that programs initiated by the Department of Industry have contributed substantially to this industrial growth. Osh- awa has produced a major portion of the record output of motor vehicles in Canada in recent years. The various autoinotive programs intro- duced by the Government en- couraged the expansion and development of the automobile industry in Oshawa and else- where in Canada. While there currently exists a softening in market for automobiles in North America and Europe, the longer term outlook indi- cates there will be a growing demand for the output of the Canadian automotive industry. The growth of Oshawa, par- ticularly in the past ten years, has been outstanding. I read in a recent publication of your Chamber of Commerce, that the population of your com- munity has more than doubled in the past decade. Today, the average income 'in Osh- awa is 28 per cent higher than the national average and the per capita consumer sales are 32 per cent above the national average. These are most impressive figures and are indicative of the vig- our and spirit of your city, as well as the imagination, initiative and energy of your IT STARTED BACK IN 1840 WITH SKEA'S CORNERS PO and business leaders. It has often been said that Oshawa was always destined to become an industrial city. A little more than a few dec- community ades after Edward Skea opened a post office in his store and a small cluster of houses became known as "Skea's Corners" in the early 1840's, industry began to take root in the community and today, more than a century later, some of these indus- tries are still in operation. The history. of Oshawa has always been one of progress and promise --a history of which your citizens can be justly proud ---and_ the achievements which are. so evident today point to an even greater future. I congratulate you and wish you every success in the years to come. Population Of Oshawa Seen 115,000 By 1981 the province and city sponsor the first federal-provincial hous- ing project in Oshawa. Situatec on Christine Crescent, the pro- ject consists of 42 units on a four-acre site. Estimated cos' was $516,577 of which the fede- ral government provided 75%, the provincial government 174% and the city 714% of the capital outlay. | An 18-unit extension to this project on Lomond Street, just east of Christine Crescent, was completed in 1966. At an esti- mated cost of $424,784 the ex- tension provides 12 three-bed- room and six four-bedroom, |semi-detached homes. Both the Christine Crescent and Lomond Street develop- ments are administered by a local housing authority. Rents are adjusted to the income of the residents. | Public Housing Loans -- In 1966, Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation approved three public housing loans for Oshawa A National Housing Act Loan for $306,007 was approved in May. Purpose of this loan wa: to acquire 23 units on Carlton Court. The loan was to cover 90% of the estimated cost; the |Ontario Housing Corporation, a jprovincial body, provided the jremaining ten per cent. To be jadministered by Housing Corporation this pro- jject consists of 23 two-storey semi-detached homes, each hay- ing three bedrooms. In June, 1966 a silimar loan of $348,390 was approved for the ~ 8 |purchase of eight two-storey buildings on Olive Avenue con- = |taining 16 two-bedroom and 16 three-bedroom units. In October, a loan of $163,805 was approved for the construc- i |tion of a 12-unit project consist- ing of 12 three-bedroom semi- detached units. SEWAGE PROJECT LOANS "Another relatively unknown CMHC activity," says Spencer "is our loans to municipalities for municipal sewage treatment projects." On November 16, 1964, Whitby received a 20-year loan for $134,667 for an extension to their existing sewage treatment plant at $202,000. a similar 20-lear loan in Jan uary, 1966 for the installation o! the Ontario |Oshawa citizens", and building of an interceptor sewer. Total cost was estimated government. There are also fed- oral contributions available inder the NHA to cover one- ialf the cost of preparing and mplementing an urban renewal scheme. WINTER BUILDING One of the most successful house-building assistance pro- grams of recent years, accords ing to CMHC manager Spencer, was the winter house-building incentive payment. Across Can- ada at least 100,000 dwellings were approved for winter in- centives in the three years the program was in operation. "Certainly the construction pattern of the house-building in- dustry has changed in that time. Now more builders are working in the wintertime." "To continue to aid winter employment CMHC again in 1966 made direct speculative mortgage loans to merchant builders. No pre-salle of the home was required. In 1966 we procured 541 applications for 589 units through the Oshawa office." NEW HOUSING ACT AMENDMENTS Late in 1966 Parliament pas- sed several amendments to the National Housing Act. Many of these amendments will make the NHA even more useful for says Mr. Spencer. Briefly the amendments are: --A provision for loans to per- sons who wish to purchase, ime prove and occupy existing hous- ing. These loans would carry conditions similar to loans now possible for new housing. --An increase in the loan ratio for rental housing from 85 per cent of the lending value to 90 per cent of the lending value. --An increase in the limit on funds available for loans on un- iversity housing projects from two hundred million dollars to three hundred and fifty million dollars. --An extension of the loans for university housing to such in- stitutions as vocational and technical training schools, train- ing hospitals and schools for special groups of handicapped persons, --An extension of three years to the period within which the con- struction of a sewage treatment project must be completed if the The City of Oshawa received|municipality is to be forgiven -|payment of part of the loan., f|--A request to increase certain a trickling filter extension to|statutory limitations in the total their existing sewage treatment|funds available for lending pur. plant. Total cost was estimated|poses under the National House at $115,000; the loan was for|ing Act. $68,667. URBAN RENEWAL AIM IS BETTER HOUSING | "The National Housing Act," There are currently two urban|says Mr. Spencer, "is probably renewal studies being plannedjone of the most flexible pieces for Oshawa and Whitby. Discus sions with respect to -|0f legislation Canada has. The these|purpose of NHA is the same as studies are in the preliminary|when it was first enacted -- to Stages. Undér the National Housing Act, a municipality can receive a contribution to cover three-quarters of the cost of Isuch a study from the federal were already established in Canada. McKinnon Industries, itself a development of the carriage building days, has been a mem- ber of the General Motors fam- ily for decades. The three plants of the McKinnon Industries of St. Catharines and Windsor turn out engines; steering gears; transmissions; axles; ball and roller bearings; spark plugs; electrical ignition equipment; forgings and castings. Frigidaire Products of Canada Limited is also on its own. The 11 acre plant is located in Scar- borough. The 7 acre plant of General Motors diesel limited is located in London, Ontario. This Gen- eral Motors division builds die- sel highway and urban coaches and a variety of types of diesel locomotive from quick effici- liam Durant to manufacture the} Chevrolet in Canada. | MANY FIRSTS In 1918, the McLaughlin and| Canadian Chevrolet Companies were merged into General Mo- tors of Canada with R. S. Mc-} Laughlin as president and G. W. McLaughlin as_vice-presi- dent. General Motors of Canada en- tered an era of rapid expansion. An era that has seen the begin- ning of modern assembly lines and today's incredibly com- plex production. And in all these years, General Motors of Can- ada has not lagged behind its larger brother south of the bor- der. Many of the notable G. M. car improvements originated in the Oshawa Plant, for instance, G. M. used windshields, tops and side-curtains in Canada long before they were used in the United States. One of the first stop-lights was on a Mc- Laughlin Buick in 1920. The spare tire carrier was a Cana- dian invention. A crankcase ventilator was first used in 1924 and is a Canadian patent. Adjustable front seats were pa- tented in Canada in 1920 but were not used in the United States for years, G. M. in Oshawa also had its share in making the crank a outdated as the buggy whip. / great deal of the developmen york on the preliminary stage 0f the self-starter was done Jshawa. rloyees. Nine out of ten share The Ford Company had been or-! holders are individual owners Produce the one-millionth Qs, It took just about 30 years ent switchers to mammoth, high-speed, road locomotives. VAST GROUP At Oshawa, General Motors of Canada operates a vast group of plants*turning out Chevro- let, Pontiac, Buick and Olds- mobile passenger cars; Chev- rolet and General Motors trucks and car and track parts. The combined usuable floor space of our Oshawa plant and office building amounts to ap- proximately 192 acres and our employees number some 16,000. At Windsor, Ontario, General Motors Trim Limited produces most of the trim sets for. Osh- awa and Ste. Therese - built cars and trucks, A certain amount of their production is for the export 'market in the U. S. The plant is part of Gen- eral Motors of Canada, Limit- ed. Also part of the corporation set-up in Canada are three fi- nance and insurance units: to provide for the needs of General Motors customers and dealers. These three units are: General Motors Acceptance Corporation, which finances the consumers' purchase of Gen- eral Motors cars and trucks from General Motors dealers and which also finances deal- ers' purchases from General Motors. Motors Insurance Corpora- ion, provides fire, theft, and '| forms of motor vehicle in- urance for G. M. owners and eneral Motors Dealers. fotors Holding of Canada iited, which provides capital ancing for new General Mo- Bs 1 dealerships, UTS 'FORMER OSHAWA MAYOR, ROBERT McLAUGHLIN - + « He Moved Enniskillen Firm Here in 1876 <™ FIRE GUTTED McLAUGH LIN CARRIAGE HERE , «++ Firm Moved To Gananoque While Oshawa Plant Was Rebuilt ' bring decent housing within the reach of everyone in Canada. As Oshawa grows CMHC through its Oshawa branch office will continue to serve the citizens."' David Annis Operated Mill David Annis, a son of Charles -- one of the original pioneer Settlers in this area -- was a man of excellent business abili- ty and great drive, although un- able to write his own name, He was also a man of fine heart a friend of the poor and most hospitable. It was said of him that no Indian or White man ever went hungry from his door. He and Daniel Con- ant built what is believed to be the first lumber mill in what was then known as the Home District. It was located on Annis' Creek just north of where the Thomas Street Bridge is now located. A Dam was construct- ed to provide water power, and the earth abutments of that dam can still be found there. The original frame mill stood halfway between the Dam and Thomas Street. It was con- structed on posts and some of the post holes are still visible. EC. 7, 1859 GM 'Phote