Thanks to General Motors Corp. and the other two major U.S. car manufacturers, the Canadian province of Ontario in 2004 surpassed Michigan for the first time as the largest auto-producing region in North America, and GM executives don't mind being quite

blunt about the reason the company has moved so much production across the border. While hourly wages are somewhat lower north of the border, the most appealing aspect of Canadian production is the $1,400 per auto that GM saves because of Canada's substantially less expensive state-run healthcare system.

But as much as GM appreciates the Canadian system in Canada, the company becomes downright coy when asked whether such a system could work in the U.S. "GM thinks there has to be closer cooperation between the government and the private sector, but we don't advocate a single-payer system for the U.S.," a spokeswoman responded.