CTV News says it has been told by many sources that General Motors is planning to close all operations in Oshawa eliminating thousands of high-paying jobs. There are some 2,500 union positions and about 300 salaried employees in the Oshawa area. GM employs many more in Ingersoll, Markham and St. Catharines. It’s unclear if those positions are affected. GM once employed 40,000 workers at Oshawa in a history going back a century to the time of the Canadian-made McLaughlin motor car. GM bought out McLaughlin owners in 1918. The end of the auto industry in Oshawa may be seen as an ultimate consequence of globalization. Canada and its consumers were once an important market for US automakers. It paid them to build cars here. But the industrialization of more populous countries combined with the decline of US manufacturing has apparently driven GM to leave Oshawa. .