Power to the taxpayers. Remember us?

The PM, Premiers and Territorial leaders got together in Ottawa to discuss the looming economic crisis as it applies to Canada.  Everybody had their hand out and the only person to be potentially screwed by this will be the taxpayers.

These guys just don't get it.

If you want to support the North American automotive industry then give Canadians a tax break when they buy or lease a North American car or truck.  Don't just give it to the industry.  Give the money to the people who do the buying and they can give it to the industry in a fair trade for something they need!

Rather than the typical way that governments fund infrastructure projects, wherein the feds give one third, the provinces one third and one third to the municipality, the feds should pay the full costs.  That way the taxes paid by homeowners do not rise.   The homeowners can then spend their money on other stuff, like a new North American car.  Similarly the provinces can do a better job with hospital wait times with the money they save.


Let's think about NAFTA and jobs.  NAFTA makes it easy to move an entire industry to low wage Mexico.  If you have an industry that spews toxins, move it to Mexico where environmental standards are lower.

Let's think about controlling imports from places like China until they begin to raise their standards of living, employments and environmental protection.  It may put Wal-Mart out of business but that is their problem - not ours.

Time to cut the neighbours loose

Let's say that you tell your kids and some of the neighbours kids that they cannot throw a ball against your garage door. The neighbours hear about the ban and they confront you. There is an obscure clause in a city bylaw, they say, that states that you cannot prohibit the neighbours kids from throwing a ball against your garage. Ludicrous you say? Can't happen, you claim? Well listen to this!

In 1951 the Alberta government enacted a law (Alberta Gas Resources Preservation Act) that states that the province must maintain at least a 15 year reserve of natural gas before they can export any to other provinces or to the US. In my example, that is akin to you telling the kids not to throw the ball against the garage.

In 1989, the Canadian government and the US entered into the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement, (think of it as the city bylaw in our example) which included an innocuous clause which referred to proportionality with respect to Canada's natural gas and oil and its export to the US. In fact, the clause has the effect of forcing Canada to make available about two thirds of its energy capacity to the US - regardless to the needs or situations of Canadians. This clause was carried over into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Alberta, according to recent studies, has only eight years of proven reserves, much less than the 15 years demanded by their own law. So, the Alberta government should be restricting their export taps a bit to get their reserves back up to the legal minimum, right? Can't! The FTA (and NAFTA) make the Alberta law invalid. The US controls the exports of Alberta energy through the FTA. The US controls the laws of Alberta.

Can you say unacceptable?

NAFTA (which interestingly includes Mexico but the carried-over FTA proportionality clause does not affect them) has a six month exit clause. With six months notice we can get out of NAFTA including: the tribunals that have screwed up our environment by stopping us from banning dangerous chemicals from entering Canada; the lopsided actions that have screwed up our softwood lumber, potato and beef exports; and demands that we give the US, our partner, two thirds of our energy, even if our own country is in need.

Barrack Obama has mused about renegotiating NAFTA. Maybe Canada's Greatest Government(TM) should muse that also. No... hang on a bit. CGG(TM) is owned by the oil companies and their lobbyists.

Maybe Harper will apologize to Canadians when he finished apologizing for the Residential Schools, to Sikhs over Komagata Maru and whatever other groups he wants to pander to.

It's a victory for Canadians!!!

I would not want to be the Federal Minister of Industry, Hon. Jim Prentice's cat tonight. Fluffy is probably hiding under a bed out of the range of Jimmy's size fours.

You see Jimmy is the latest in a string of casualties that are falling out of the ineptitude of the Harper government.

The groundswell of opposition to the sale of MacDonald Detwiller (MDA) to a US defence contractor, ATK, has resulted in the halt of the sale by Jimmy as not being in Canada's (read the Harper government's) best interest.

Three cheers for the triumphant Jimmy. He saved Canada. He saved our technology. He saved our massive investment in technology owned by MDA. He saved the jobs of the people at the Florida Labs in Ottawa (where the real brains behind the MDA assets work for the federal government).

What? What was that comment from the legal beagles at ATK? You have thirty days to comment on Jimmy's decision and, if you don't like it, you can take Canada to a free trade hearing?

We are screwed. Just see:
canbloopers.blogspot.com/2007/11/is-health-canada-trying-to-kill-us.html
to know how well we fair in being "protected" by NAFTA.

Say bye, bye to MDA.