Stephen Harper is in the process of negotiating a Free Trade agreement with both China and India. Is this a good deal for Canada?
The Conservative Government under Brian Mulroney signed an agreement with United States of America that took effect on Jan. 2, 1988. It wasn't long after that we started having a large dispute about timber and whether or not we were subsidizing it.
We all know it cost Canadian forestry firms millions. American firms operating in Canada were able to get this money across the border free of Canadian taxes. To add insult to injury American firms bought up Canadian firms and in many cases moved operations south to below the forty-ninth. Most of these jobs were middle class paying jobs.
What type of jobs were they replaced with equal paying jobs or lower paying? Both the Liberal and Conservative governments only report on how many jobs that have been created not whether they entry level or better paying jobs.
Since the financial melt down of 2009, the American government declared that American firm would get first crack at contracts that governments tendered in the U.S. What this means in my opinion that the Free Trade Agreement is only for just one of signatories and not the other.
We since then have penned an agreement with Mexico. Many of the international businesses that were located in our country prior to this agreement are now being located down there. Canada cannot compete because of the substandard living, safety, and pay conditions these people endure.
Since the free trade with the Americas that Canada signed there has seen a huge erosion of Canadian-owned businesses. This could eventually lead too Canadians not having a say into the
direction Canada takes.
Free trade has not produced the opportunities it should have. The only beneficiaries to this point that I can see has been Wall St. and Bay St.
It wasn't long ago that I could go down town Prince George into a dry goods stare and buy a set of jeans, a shirt, a pair underwear, a coat, a set of shoes all were mass produced made by Canadian companies and made in Canada.
These were middle class paying jobs. Can you do this now?
To me free trade means that a Canadian company that produces the goods has the ability to compete with others on a level playing field. How can Canadian companies compete with countries whose living, labour, safety standards are so low that it should be criminal?
It does not matter whether we have a Liberal or a Conservative government. We have seen our decline in middle class jobs over the last thirty-five years. Our Conservative government seems intent on haying tTrade agreements with countries who openly operate sweat shops and their treatment of their citizens is disgusting.
Canada should tax imported goods from these countries to force these countries to raise their labour,safety, and pay standards to match ours.
The only thing we have though free trade is food banks. I don't think free trade with China and India is an option at this time.
Stan New
Prince George
