Smart move, Mr. Baruth. If any vehicle was ever meant to be “just an appliance”, surely a pickup truck would be it. Interesting point about your new truck’s modest width. And kudos for pointing out the utter fragility and hubris of “just in time” sourcing, outsourcing, subcontracting, etc., all of which amount to wage suppression, and eventually enraged working people when their jobs and prospects are “offshored”. No wonder so many people are angry at the folks who have been listening to Friedman and the gospel of neo-liberalism — like the Clintons, the Davos set, merchant bankers, captains of industry, etc. I like the idea of more self-sufficient manufacturing for a lot of reasons, not just disaster-proofing. Even in-house cleaners are happier, do a better job, and are better consumers and taxpayers than out-sourced contract staff.
To answer the question you only hinted at, your F150’s motor was being held up by unhappy workaday Canadians blocking the border — whipped into a rage on Facebook and co-ordinated via Twitter, amplified by Russian democracy-eating bots and trolls, and paid for to some extent by activists in your country. Fortunately, a mix of local and provincial police forces were finally able to slow-walk the Flu Trucks Clan off the borders and out of Ottawa and now we can go back to being the obedient auto-making branch plant we have been since the Autopact was signed back in 1965. FWIW, it is often cheaper to build cars in Canada, depending on the exchange rate, of course, because even though the wages can be higher, the automaker does not have to shell out for employees’ private health insurance plans — the province’s general revenues and money transferred from the feds fund the main public health care plan, and only side benefits like eye care, dental, and, say, remedial hockey or curling lessons are provided by the employer.
