Only a quarter of Canadians and 19 per cent of Americans said their countries would be better off without free trade, while 57 per cent of Canadians and 55.6 per cent of Americans said they'd be worse off without it.
The idea behind the Free Trade Agreement, superceded in 1994 by the North America Free Trade Agreement that brought in Mexico, was to reduce as much as possible the friction that hampers trade. Despite some high-profile disputes -- including battles over exempted softwood lumber -- the agreement has been a resounding success. Canadian exports to the U.S. reached $359 billion in 2006, up from just $111 billion in 1990. Exports as a proportion of nominal gross domestic product grew from an average of 20 per cent in the 1950s through the 1970s to more than 40 per cent in NAFTA's first decade. Not to mention the millions of jobs that have been created on both sides of the border because of free trade.
NAFTA proponents, led by then Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, correctly predicted the deal would usher in a epoch of economic prosperity; none of the negative impacts raised by the detractors, led by Liberal leader John Turner -- who promised to "rip up" the deal if elected -- came to pass.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=cd071d19-8dc3-4f22-802a-34063a0693f3
Note: http://www.canada.com/v...

sayers have no *&^%ing idea.
As far as I'm concerned NAFTA has made a few very rich and as the days of
NATA wear on and on the lack of sustainability of such an "I value
consummerism over
all other things" society will and is finding its way into all Canadian, Mexican
and USAmerican homes.
Why are Mexicans still leaving thier country in droves? Why did Canada have
a brain drain and is now experiencing a return of those hunting for more
money?
Canada is a nation full of resources the world needed and needs even more
now and she would have been a success and even more successful had we
had leaders that could see beyond their Pinocchio sized noses.
Nice try Vancouver Sun.
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"The most sustainable product is the one you never bought in the first place."
Alex Steffan
Yes, there may be more wealth in Canada but it has all funnelled to the top. They are many more millionaires and billionaires in Canada but many many jobs have gone south, manufacturing is a lost art in Canada and the middle class is evaporating.
People in general are much worse off than they were in 1989, and we have a new class in society called the "working poor." These are people who have to go to food banks at the end of month to just get by.
The newspapers are all owned by big business so it doesn't suprise me that they are trying to convince Canadians that NAFTA was "great" for the country.
Yeah, just wait until the North American Union comes about. It has been referred to as "NAFTA on steroids." It will bring about the biggest changes in our lives since the '29 depression and the world wars.
If this paper is all for giving away the country, they should be called on it. For <br />
those who wisjh to respond with a Letter to the Editor, Murray Dobson has <br />
inspiring letter-writing resources at WordWarrriors:<br />
<a href="http://canadians.org">http://canadians.org</a><br />
Resources against SPP/NAU:<br />
<a href="http://canadians/org/integratethis">http://canadians/org/integratethis</a><p>---<br>See my art at http://cafepress.com/peaceangel
<a href="http://www.canadians.org/integratethis/index.html">http://www.canadians.org/integratethis/index.html</a><p>---<br>See my art at http://cafepress.com/peaceangel
in Germany and Austria after WW2, the starving people would have crept out from under the ruins to vote for him.
Induced mass hysteria is one of the main reasons of history's repetitious tragedies. And ruling classes have always been the masters in controlling and directing it. Now they can hire the best mind benders and control the universities to sell the lies and do the dirty work for them
Ed Deak.
Henry Giroux, of McMaster University, recently revealed that Eisenhower left one
word out when he warned us about the military-industrial complex: ACADEMIC.
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See my art at http://cafepress.com/peaceangel
I remain unpersuaded, and do not need a reminder.