Thinking The Unthinkable About Canada’S Future

Correction please ....... Turner did not debate the NAFTA, but its predecessor, the US-Canada FTA. Also, he didn't lose, but won the TV debate for one, which I still have on VCR tape, and most commentators agreed that Turner won. Consequently, 57% of the Canadian votes rejected the FTA. Mulroney was returned to majority, through the screwy electoral system with 43% of the votes.

While the FTA was still before ratification, Gillette was the first rat corporation to flee the sinking ship, with their factories closed in Toronto and Montreal and 600 jobs lost.

I was fighting the FTA all the way and still have a filing drawer full of materials of the lies etc. Mulroney was against the FTA in 1984, then jumped on a plane to Reagan within about 2 days after his election and came back the next day as a full supporter of the treaty.

However, he made a big mistake by informing people of all the details of the negotiations and sending out copies of the treaty. I gave mine to a Masters candidate, but still have the abbreviated version. His successors, like Chretien,
promised to re-negotiate the already ready NAFTA, but then signed it in secret, without any public inputs, The same withe the present GATS negotiations.

During the 1983 PC leadership campaign the only supporter of free trade was Peter Pocklington, all other were against it. Here's from a page of the June 13/83 issue of Maclean's with quotations by the contenders:

Joe Clark: "Unrestrained free trade with the US raises the possibility that thousands of jobs could be lost in such critical industries as textiles, furniture and footwear. Before we jump on the bandwagon of continentalism, we should strenghten our industrial structure so that we are more competitive."

David Crombie:" It's silly. Canada must improve relations and trade with the US, of course. But our natural destiny is to become a global leader, not America's weak sister"

John Crosbie: No comment, He was always a closet supporter.

John Gamble: " We would be eaten alive. If we open our market to the US, we won't be able to sustain our manufacturing"

Brian Mulroney: " Canadians rejected free trade with the US in 1911. They would do so again in 1983. Canada must increase its share of total world trade, which has dropped by 33% in the past two decades"

Peter Pocklington: " I believe in free trade between Canada and the US, but we must assure that Canadian industry gets the same access as we give the Americans"

Michael Wilson: " Bilateral free trade with the US is simplistic and naive. It would only serve to further diminish our ability to compete internationally"

So much from the mouths of professional liars. But this is only a small fraction of their sayings, then all of a sudden, all of them became red hot FTA supporters, once they were in government.

So, what has changed with the Conservatives, or even the Liberals since then? The lies got bigger, that's all.

Ed Deak, Big Lake, BC.

Lest we forget what the Conservatives have done for Canada and Canadian sovereignty!

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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.

Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.

It should be clear to every Loyal Canadian that looking after our own domestic markets first as well as having a diversified foreign trade with other countries other then the United States, will Canada be able to enforce a level playing field with outside markets and free trade agreements with the United States.

Caving into every whim of the USA only makes Canada look weak and a non player in the world markets.

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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.

Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.

It's not just about so-called "free trade", it's about "national will" and who's version will be heard.

As long as our erroniously called "leaders" can keep the majority of Canadian silent and uninformed, their will becomes the "national will" by default.

The "national will" is the will of the people, and if the majority ever get off their collective asses and make their voices heard, our political leaders will have no choice but to comply with the demands of the people.

There are far more of us than there are of them.

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"and the knowledge they fear is a weapon to be used against them"

"The Weapon" - Rush

Nice recap for inducing depression, hopelessness and suicidal tendancies. Sheesh! How are we going to undo the damage that has been done?

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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche

Sad to say but most people did not understand the FTA when it was passed and are just as ignorant on NAFTA and NAFTA Plus. We are in love with modernity, consumerism and have a very limited tolerance for anything that might challenge our smug complacency. The media helps this along by its self-imposed censorship avoiding meaningful critical analysis, acting as cheerleaders for the emerging corporatist oligarchy. Our political elites are merely lapdogs to the agenda.

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Robert Billyard

And I believe that Turner called the FTA "the Sale of Canada Act".

It's also too easy for people to dismiss the Conservatives - for a long time it
was the Tories who led the freedom movement in Canada (think Sir John
Macdonald, Diefenbaker, et al); and the Liberals in the shape of Mackenzie
King who did the opposite . The sad thing is that the Conservatives on both
sides of the Atlantic have lost their way - there's too little Toryism, and an
overwhelming amount of American Republicanism (whether of the
neoconservative variety or otherwise).

I don't understand the appeal of this - I have always thought that Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, and the UK have so much in common politically and
historically that can be shared, whereas none has that much in common with
the ideology that led to the creation of the USA nor with its subsequent
development. Especially, since Canada has faced repeated assaults on its
integrity from the south, by both devious and physical means, does it seem
strange that Canada should rush to embrace its destroyer, and to accept
willingly its preferred destiny (by the US Congress) as the 14th Colony.

Start fighting back and don't do it in the way that they, (the fractional reserve thieves and their lackeys), expect you to! Take the messages to the streets. Post posters. Freeway overpasses are great places for exhibets. Hand out cd's and dvd's. Ask people what they think about the issues and then explain the parts that they don't understand. Use your imagination and everything else that you have.

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"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
(Albert Einstein)