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Contributor: danf
Date: 2003-04-21 16:12:17
Prosperity: In spite of repeated uncritical claims, including one echoed recently by Foreign Minister Graham, after more than a decade of FTA and her daughter NAFTA, Canada s trade with the US has not resulted in a significant improvement in the standard of living of the median Canadian family. Meanwhile, the take home pay of the average American has soared. I realize that assertion defies conventional wisdom, however, I do not believe that advocates of those unfortunate deals have done their homework or presented the facts objectively. I don t deny that trade volumes have increased greatly since the introduction of the FTA, but the average Canadian has derived little or no resulting benefit.
The number of homeless people is at an all time high, there are more impoverished children and single mothers than ever, our health care system is struggling to fend off attempts at privatization, our agricultural industry is being taken over by American giants such as Monsanto and DeKalb, head offices of our high tech industry and several auto assembly plants have migrated toward lower paid labour markets in the US and Mexico and Europe, and our stores are flooded with the products of sweat-shop Asian labour, to name just some of the harmful effects of those deals. Clearly, many of the positive results claimed for NAFTA and the FTA are illusory.
Trade in automobiles and auto parts were already exempt as part of the auto pact, so that commerce should not be counted in the increased trade figure. Energy, another major portion of Canada s trade with the USA, would have gone south regardless of the FTA or NAFTA. Provincial governments have collaborated in a prodigal way to sell a very large part of our oil and gas industry to our major competitor, at the expense of long-term jobs and energy security at home. We did sell a large number of subsidized aircraft, but anyone can sell at a loss. Canadian unemployment remains unacceptably high, in spite of a deliberate policy of weakening the Canadian dollar by more than twenty per cent since the FTA was introduced a major factor behind larger trade volumes. Most of that increase has come from the weaker loony and lower Canadian wages, while the profits have gone to the wealthy. On a number of vital Canadian trade issues including; softwood lumber, steel, and grain, the US has simply ignored the rules or else introduced litigation to thwart them. There is no reason to believe the Americans will change their ways.
Mr. Chretien, as part of his election campaign, promised to renegotiate the FTA to protect Canada s interests. Instead he has broadened that pact to Canada s disadvantage. As a result Canadians are working harder, for longer hours, with less security than during the pre-FTA period. That insecurity is shown in a birth rate which cannot sustain the existing population, and the migration of talented professionals to the USA.
A further undesirable feature of our trade agreement with the US has been a loss in Canadian sovereignty. As a result of that trade policy, we now are compelled to share our energy with the US regardless of the needs of Canadians. With the dwindling supply of natural gas and oil, we could be left freezing in the dark, as the Alberta premier once threatened. Our drinking water may well be the next target of global traders, and our cultural sector is already under constant siege from American producers.
In the age of industrialization, the unregulated competition of laissez-faire capitalism amongst the great powers seeking colonies and markets, led ultimately to World War I. In the absence of an effective governing body, the current trend toward globalization and unfettered trade will just as surely lead to conflict and wars of many kinds.
Finally, with respect to trade, we should recognize that the US economy is increasingly vulnerable because of trade and budget deficits and an administration which is ready to fund enormous expenditures on defence while cutting taxes. The eagle will not lay golden eggs forever. Unless we can get a more equitable deal we should back away from NAFTA; the USA does not seem willing to abide by that agreement in any case. In its stead, Canadian industries should make a determined effort to diversify our trade, and the government should play an active role in cultivating trading opportunities abroad. Nations such as Russia, and the eastern European bloc, may be faltering, but they have the potential to become strong economic powers and could be profitable markets for Canadian producers. Although it is alluring to grow our trade with South America, China, and other Asian nations, and we should do so, such commerce should not be undertaken at the expense of Canadian standards. We should insist on more respect for human rights, more care for the environment and reasonable wages for the working forces of all our trading partners. If we do not, we may have a thriving economy but a sicker world and a weak and ailing population. Let us seek Fair Trade, rather than unbridled exploitation under the name of Free Trade.
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