The Globe And Mail Just Doesn’T Get It

The US government is now running record debt and deficits, largely to finance its foreign intrigues and enormous defense spending. The Iraq conflict alone is costing the US treasury about $1.5 billion dollars a week (yes, a week!). George W. Bush has promised to balance the budget by the time he leaves office (which he has no hope of doing). So we should not be surprised that possibly all US government departments have been ordered to maximize revenues and Canada has become a designated cash cow. This latest scam could be dealt with through the NAFTA dispute settlement provisions, but as Toronto international trade lawyer Larry Herman points out in the Globe editorial, “(That) will not get us very quick relief.” Herman’s statement points to the hub of the problem, in that the US continually breaches the NAFTA, while it appears that Canada’s political and business elites are not prepared to do anything about it--which only makes a bad situation worse, thus encouraging the US protectionist bully boy. It appears our political elites have given up on NAFTA without the fortitude to insist that it be adhered to, possibly revised, or even cancelled. International Trade Minister David Emerson assures that he will continue to talk to the Americans, but given his less-than-stellar performance on the softwood lumber agreement, Canadians should brace themselves for another licking. He has the audacity to accuse those opposing the softwood agreement of being “anti-American” which is a rather putrid red herring. The softwood agreement is a bad deal and must been seen as such. A truckload of red herrings won’t bury Emerson’s incompetence. To add insult to injury, these user fees will also apply to fruits, vegetables and agricultural products exported to the US, supposedly because the US is afraid of bio-terrorism. This is especially galling as Canada’s food standards are at least equal to and in many instances greater than those of the US. In the aftermath of 9/11, Canada, along with many other US allies, made sincere efforts to cater to America’s neurotic and paranoid desire for greater security. Also, the US has shamelessly exploited the tragedy of 9/11 and the war on terrorism to its own advantage and no country has yet had the courage to say enough is enough. With these user fees we are seeing but one more example of this ruthless self-indulgence on the part of the US--sometimes you have to tell a good friend that the buck stops here! The editorial ends on a rather pathetic, pleading note: "Meanwhile, there is a larger issue here. The US is supposed to be our trusted ally and closest trading partner. To hinder agricultural trade, to ask Canadians to pay for US security, to do all this with virtually no notice, is a terrible way to treat a friend." It is indeed a terrible way to treat a friend. But until such time as Canada’s political elites gain some understanding as to the differences between friendship and servitude, comity and contempt, co-operation and capitulation, the good old Canadian cash cow is going to get leaner and leaner on the stake of US protectionism. Its time the folks at The Globe and Mail started connecting the dots; but then maybe they don’t have the fortitude to do so. [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on September 5, 2006]