Actually, there may even be a more important reason why Canada should
reopen NAFTA and that is the question of water. It is a matter of public
record that American business and government are eyeing Canadian fresh
water to solve the growing water shortages in the US. Water was supposed
to be exempted from free trade commoditization in NAFTA but it was not
explicitly excluded and Canadian experts believe that Canada can not
protect its water supplies from a NAFTA challenge. (Apparently, the
water protection was in the original draft but it mysteriously
disappeared in the final version. Some have suggested this might not be
unrelated to the fact that Canada's chief negotiator was on the board of
a corporation formed to export bulk water to the US.) Since Canada
itself is already facing the prospect of water shortages itself and are
already exporting massive amounts of 'virtual water' to the US in the
form of tar sands oil, it is absolutely imperative that we protect our
current supplies since, as the water experts are wont to observe, "water
flows to money".
Paul Phillips
ken hanly wrote:
Many Canadians would be quite happy to re-open NAFTA
as Obama and Clinton suggest. Laxer gives some of the
reasons for doing so.
http://www.jameslaxer.com/blog.html
Obama and Clinton Have a Point: Let’s Take a Hard Look
at NAFTA
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been squabbling
over which of them is more serious about standing up
to Canada on the shortcomings of the North American
Free Trade Agreement. In her last ditch effort to
seize victory from the jaws of defeat in Ohio (we’ll
know the result tonight), Clinton has been accusing
Obama of talking tough to hard hit workers while
reassuring Ottawa that he’s only kidding.
Neither of these candidates is remotely pro-Canadian.
As a border state senator, Hillary Clinton has been
happy to bash Canada for its supposedly lax security
whenever that suits her. Not that we should be
surprised that the Democratic front runners could care
less about Canada. That’s normal, despite the
dewy-eyed proclivity of some Canadians to seek
salvation from American politicians.
We ought to be thankful though to Obama and Clinton
for insisting on the renegotiation of NAFTA if either
of them reaches the White House.
Canadians have pressing reasons for taking a hard look
at NAFTA.
<snip>
Thanks Barack and Hillary, for putting NAFTA back on
the agenda. In our own national election, which can’t
come too soon, Canadians ought to put the issue front
and centre.
Blog: http://kenthink7.blogspot.com/index.html
Blog: http://kencan7.blogspot.com/index.html
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
--
Paul Phillips Professor Emertus, Economics University of Manitoba Home
and Office: 3806 - 36A st., Vernon BC, Canada. ViT 6E9 tel: 1 (250)
558-0830 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
