HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-12-22, Page 5International Scene
By Raymond Can
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1993. PAGE 5.
Planning a trip
to Paris?
See Jim for
a good time
Giving a party is like having a baby.
Its conception is more fun than its
completion, and once you've begun,
it's impossible to stop.
Jan Struthers
Want to go to a party? You're invited.
I'm serious. The party is this coming
Sunday and it's strictly "come as you are". I
guarantee you that there'll be lots to eat and
drink. I can't say for sure who'll be there, but
you can expect at least 50 other folks to
show up — and they'll be from every walk of
life you can imagine.
At the last party there was an anaesthetist
from Martinique, an Algerian-born cancer
researcher, a French film-maker, a Scottish
golfer, a photographer from Cincinnati, two
students from Montreal, a surfer from South
Africa, and two hairdressers from New
Westminster, B.C.
And that's just the people who were
standing around the chip dip.
You'll encounter folks who speak
Canadian, American, Australian, Irish,
NAFTA
today
and tomorrow
I can't say that I sat on the edge of my
chair watching the great NAFTA debate
unfold south of the border but I did get a
certain vicarious pleasure out of seeing Ross
Perot brought down to earth with a bang by
non other than-Al Gore, the U.S. vice-
president. I have always thought that Perot
was too glib, too shallow and was more
intent on courting popular opinion than in
providing hard facts. However, do not
expect to see the Texan gadfly fold his tent
and silently steal away. He is not that sort of
person.
Before and after the passing of NAFTA in
the U.S. House of Representatives and in the
Senate, I have been frequently asked by
students, and non-students, to provide some
clarification to the whole debate, a fact
which leads me to believe that regardless of
how one feels about it emotionally, the vast
majority of people really do not understand
all the ramifications. This is especially true
with regards to the future; those in favour of
the deal are depending a great deal on faith
while those against it tend to dredge up what
is known as "a worse case scenario". I would
suspect that neither one is going to be true.
Let me cite an example. During the debate
that preceded the signing of the FTA with
the United States, it was generally agreed,
and I would have been willing to go along
with it, that one of the losers of any trade
liberalization policy would be the Canadian
textile industry. The whole industry was in a
very vulnerable position and there arc, no
Scottish and English English. You will also
hear conversations in Spanish, French,
Italian, Romanian and even Swahili is not
out of the question.
There are, ahhh, one or two catches
however.
First it's going to cost you about $25 for
the evening — but hey! That's a bargain for
all the food, wine and conversation you can
handle, right?
The second catch is more daunting.
If you want to go to this party, you have to
make your way to Paris, France.
Well, that's where the party is. In a
somewhat cramped studio apartment just off
the Rue de la Tome Issoire, to be exact, in
the 14th arrondissement of the French
capital.
It's Jim Haynes' pad. Jim's an American
expatriate, a part-time lecturer, a travel
writer and perhaps the last professional
hippie in existence. Working hippie, that is.
He's lived and worked in Paris since the late
70s. And every Sunday he's thrown a party
for the first 50 or so people who come
through his door.
Well, it's not quite that simple, but almost.
Jim Haynes prefers his guests to telephone
ahead and let him know they're coming. That
way he knows how much to cook. But as far
as place settings go, it's first come, first
served. Jim doesn't give a rap if you're a
millionaire or on the dole, a Lord Mayor or a
lumberjack. Nobody gets invited because
they're rich and famous and nobody — save
doubt, some firms that have gone under
since the implementation of the deal.
However, a report just released reveals that,
as a whole, the industry has really benefitted
and is in better shape than it was five years
ago. Perhaps it can be explained by stating
that the industry decided to face facts, and
give the new reality its best shot instead of
concentrating on the negative aspects. I am
sure that, under NAFI A, as well as under
FTA, there will be some surprises, both pro
and con.
In listening to the Americans debate
NAFTA, I got the distinct impression that all
their attention was focused on Mexico; they
took us, as they have in the past, simply for
granted. But then those who read my earlier
column on NAFTA will remember that I did
not predict great things for Canada from any
agreement, this in spite of the fact that I am
certainly known- for my support of trade
liberalization policies. The major reason, I
felt, and still do, that Canada had to
participate in order to look after our interests
under the FTA and elsewhere. There are
some marginal benefits to be sure;
companies such as telecommunications and
banking should do well, but by and large
there is going to be no great surge of
business from Mexico over what is going on
already.
There will undoubtedly be some disputes
under NAFTA; one thing I noticed was that
there is still a lot of protectionist sentiment
in the U.S. and President Bill Clinton had to
buy off some of that by promising to look
into alleged unfair trading practices (i.e.
Canadian Durham wheat). Given this strong
sentiment, I can only imagine what it would
be like if there. were no free trade agreement
between Canada and the United States. It
would be open season on Canadian firms by
American companies looking for protection
to Congress.
Given that the results of any FTA or
drunks and gate-crashers — gets turned down.
"The first 50 people to call me each week
are in", says Jim, "but I leave a few extra
places for the ones who arrive in town the
day before and don't call until Saturday or
Sunday."
Jim Haynes isn't in it for the money. The
75 francs he charges each guest barely
covers the food and wine — and any profit he
makes is donated to his favourite east
European charities. Haynes is one of those
rarest of birds — a born host who just loves to
help strangers meet one another. "If there's
been one theme running through my life," he
says, "it's been introducing people to other
people. A few come to my Sunday dinners
just to eat and drink, but I think most of
them come to meet people they would never
have met otherwise."
Indeed.
I am not personally what you'd call a party
animal. I generally find them to be fetes
worse than death. But then I've never been to
Jim Hanes's place. If my bateau comes in
and I get to spend some holiday time in
Paris, I know how I'm going to pass at least
one Sunday evening.
Chances are you're richer and/or luckier
than I am and a holiday in Paris figures in
your travel plans. If so, scribble this address
on the inside cover of your passport and
drop Jim Haynes a line at: Atelier A-2, 83
Rue de la Tombe Issoire, 75014, Paris
43.27.17.67 or 43.27.19.09.
And bon appetit.
NAFTA are going to take the better part of a
decade to notice with any degree of
certainty, in the short term about all that we
can do is precisely what our textile industry
did. That is to make our firms as competitive
as possible and to look for foreign marketS
wherever possible. There is a good chance
that what will sell in Mexico will sell
elsewhere and now is as good a time as any
to take a good look at the possibilities of the
Pacific-rim countries. We simply have to
diversify our trade; too much dependence on
our trade (70 per cent with the U.S.) is not a
healthy sign. There have been a number of
attempts to do this in the past, obviously
with little results. Perhaps the next one will
be more successful.
As for the claim that there will be a large
outflow of jobs to Mexico, I have always felt
this was overstated. Such jobs were leaving
Canada long before anybody ever thought of
Mexico as a source of cheap labour; I would
hazard a guess that in about 10 years or so
the Mexicans will be losing jobs to little
known locations in the Pacific Rim where
unskilled work can be done even more
cheaply. What is seldom mentioned is that
some of the Canadian companies that moved
a part of their operations to Mexico have
moved them back to Canada since it was
discovered the work could be done more
efficiently here. Like many another
economic statistic, any negative news that
gets repeated over and over again tends to
take on a life of its own and magnify in
intensity. At some point all contact is lost
with reality.
In the long run the effect of NAFTA on
Canada will be minimal compared to our
success in learning how to compete on world
markets in general. That is a fact we would
do well to keep in front of us and not spend
too much time agonizing over some
agreement that has been blown out of all
proportion.
The
short
of it
Ely Bonnie Gropp
Remembering
family at Christmas
I have this picture in my mind — country
landscape wrapped in a blanket of sparkling
white, on which sits a large farmhouse,
embraced by a huge porch, decorated in
evergreens and dancing lights. At the
wreath-bedecked door stands a white haired
couple hugging and kissing their young
grandchildren who have just poured from the
car, as mom and dad stroll up the steps, their
arms laden with brightly coloured packages.
From inside the scents of the season waft
toward you while the strains of Johnny
Mathis singing "I'll be Home for Christmas"
bid a home-sweet-home welcome.
A picture from my past? No, it is more an
enhanced, romanticised image of bits and
pieces I do recall from my Christmases of
yesteryear.
From the beginning of me, my parents to
be fair alternated Christmas Day between
maternal and paternal grandparents. My
mental meandering back to these gatherings
brings thoughts of delicious food, music,
presents and the sheer enjoyment of being
together with family. The first singular
memory I could recall was my cousin and I
getting a bowl of plain, grated cabbage as we
detested the onion in the salad, and spurning
Christmas pudding so that Grandma let us
eat just the rum sauce.
My reminiscences of then are so few
because those Christmases were not many. I
did not have my grandparents with me for a
long time, three had passed away before I
was 15, and when they were gone, as is often
the case, things changed. Aunts, uncles and
cousins shared the festive season more
sporadically until it eventually never
happened.
Later memories were forged from holidays
spent with first my parents and siblings and
their growing families, then eventually with
my own children. All are special, but I regret
that my childhood Christmas memories are
not more clear because the people are no
longer with me. Their roles in my
Christmases of the past are precious
memories.
My Grandma Matthews loved Christmas;
she generously lavished us with gifts, while
Grandpa blessed us with his stories, his
endearing sweetness and open affection.
Though my memories of my Dad's parents
are more obscure; illness forced them to be
hospitalized for the last few years of their
lives; they are still ones for which I am
grateful. I miss my grandfather's quiet
manner and there will never be a kitchen in
the world that smelled as wonderful as
Grandma's.
I was fortunate; both sets of grandparents
provided me with distinctive holiday
memories. On the maternal side the family
was quite small, so there was more of
everything, including Grandma's shortbread,
to go around. We were a close knit group; ,
my mother's only sister had married my
dad's cousin.
Dad's side meant Christmas in the country
with the large farm house and fields of
winter white. The big organ in the living
room was a real highlight for my cousins
and I as we took turns provoking all manner
of unfestive sounds from it.
What was similar about these gatherings
was the warmth of being together. Perhaps,
like the picture I painted before this is a
somewhat romanticised notion, but I know
what the season means fo me now as an
adult and I can't help thinking that, faint as
the memory may be, the tradition of family
from my Christmases past has brought
magic to the present ones.
Arthur Black