Harper Falls In Line Behind U.S. Interests

There is more. When the industry balked, the Harper government used intimidation — a now-familiar tactic of our new prime minister. On Aug. 4, The Globe and Mail quoted a senior government official warning that opponents “… should prepare themselves for the consequences of rejecting it and might want to start contemplating a world where Ottawa is no longer in the business of subsidizing softwood disputes.” The softwood deal is trade managed of, by and for the American lumber lobby. A supposedly sovereign nation signed on to an unprecedented clause requiring provinces to first vet any changes in forestry policy with Washington. Ignored in all the hype about “how thankful we should be that Conservatives get along so well with Americans” is this reality. Canada tossed away a significant victory, won, not before the useless North American Free Trade Agreement panels, but from the U.S. Court of International Trade. On April 7, it ruled U.S. duties on Canadian softwood were illegal. Click here to find out more! This is the second time a Conservative government has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on the lumber file. In 1986, the GATT, the World Trade Organization’s predecessor, issued a preliminary finding on the legality of U.S. lumber duties against Canada. Brian Mulroney’s government, bent on negotiating a free trade agreement with the U.S., abruptly aborted it, with the eager acquiescence of the Americans. The finding was never published. It doesn’t take a suspicious mind to assume that GATT had ruled for Canada. Mulroney foreclosed on the GATT ruling because it would have wiped out his entire argument about the “necessity” of a bilateral free trade deal. Free trade is like a computer virus, coursing through Canada’s social, economic and political systems, eradicating everything unique... Full article: http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2006/09/06/635/ [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on September 14, 2006]

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