What has NAFTA and Free Trade got Canada?
When you think about it, it's a dismal list:
Softwood lumber duties.
American contempt for the trade dispute mechanism. Mass layoffs
of Canadian softwood lumber workers.
Two-year ban on Canadian
beef imports into USA, crippling our beef ranchers.
Plant closings, often
after receiving millions of Canadian tax dollar subsidies.
Loss of higher-paying
manufacturing jobs
Fortress North America.
A climate of fear
Low-paying, part-time
retail./service sector jobs
Cutbacks to Canadian
food and drug inspections
"Harmonization"
to US, not Canadian standards
Erosion of our civil
liberties
Canadian social programs,
which help define Canada, under attack
Unrestricted takeovers
of Candian businesses--even the Hudson's Bay Co. What will be
next?
Forced export of
our Canadian oil and gas to the United States, while our heating
costs and transportation costs soar.
Loss of personal
privacy. Credit card personal data sent to USA.
Loss of respect for
Canada in the world community. Canada seen as a US client state.
Loss of a truly independent
Canadian military and foreign policy
AND NOW THE FINAL
INDIGNITY: Our own Census of Canada contracted out in part
to a subsidiary of US weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Once
the (bad) decision is made to contract out the Census, the Free
Trade agreement forces the Canadian Government to accept bids from
US and US-owned companies. In trying to save a few dollars by outsourcing
part of the Census, Statistics Canada has facilitated the disgraceful
spectacle of a US-owned Lockheed Martin subsidiary being involved
with the Canada Census. Will Canadian elections be next?
But fortunately, ordinary Canadians
can do something about it, through minimum cooperation with the
Census. If we all do a little, the Census will feel it a lot.
