Townsman, 1991-02, Page 10Collwm
There's a price
to pail
for one's country
BY JIM FITZGERALD
Will Canadians in the not too
distant future be voting in a referen-
dum that asks the question that no
one dares to speak out loud, and has
quietly languished in the recesses of
our minds since the country was
formed 124 years ago. It is: do we
want to become citizens of the
United States?
As a Canadian nationalist, I have
witnessed recently with increased
frequency a number of events that
suggests we are on what appears to
be an irreversible downhill slide
into the open arms of the Uncle
Sam. And unless a yet unseen
strong nationalist sentiment starts
to build in this country, I'm afraid
that we'll soon be voting for
members of Congress and a Presi-
dent.
Over the past three or four
decades, we seem to have been able
to resist the charms of our huge
neighbour to the south, even with
the dominance of their culture, but
lately, the voices against joining the
U.S. are getting fainter as more
people on the streets see little value
in keeping a country together for
what they see as a few groups of
elite people. The mood against a
Canadian identity. which has been
tenuous at best over the years, has
become greatly accelerated since
the Free Trade Agreement was
signed and our economy is becom-
ing inextricably tied to that of the
U.S. It seems that any conversation
lately at a party or over lunch at a
factory revolves around how much
cheaper it is to shop in the States.
Newspaper reports lately have de-
tailed the savings of shopping in
Buffalo or Port Huron, and increas-
ingly border crossing points are
plugged with Canadians returning
to Canada with a host of goods,
many tariff free.
One large article in a Toronto
newspaper even gave an extensive
chart comparing the prices between
the two countries. Whether it was
chicken, milk, blue jeans, gasoline
or small home appliances, all were
cheaper with a few substantially
cheaper. It's frightening to hear
Canadians talking about getting
ripped off by their own merchants.
"Why," they ask, should we pay
$24 for a case of beer when it's only
$8 across the border." When one
tries to point out to them that one of
the reasons prices are higher here is
because of extra taxes levied to
support universal services such as
health care, education and transpor-
tation systems, etc., they just turn
up their noses and sniff, "so," and
go back to watching "America's
Funniest Home Videos."
A number of area branch plants
of U.S. parents have closed, and
their workers permanently laid off.
Their American parents, now that
tariffs have been reduced, are
finding it much more sensible to
pull back into the U.S. and service
the Canadian market with a truck or
a warehouse. Without protection,
many more industries will succumb
as the economies of scale dictate
that it's much cheaper to service
Canadian from a production line in
Tennessee with its cheaper labour
rates and laxer worker health and
safety laws.
The very backbone of much of our
economy in rural Ontario - agricul-
ture - is similarly threatened like no
other time in history, as our farmers
are being hit by a double whammy.
They are losing market share under
the FTA and may see bigger losses
when the GATT talks wind up this
spring. Without the protection of
border controls such as import
quotas. our milk and poultry indus-
try will be reduced to a few farmers
raising products for small niche
markets. Already Ontario is a net
importer of food.
Even our foreign policy lacks
8 TOWNSMAN/FEBRUARY-MARCH 1991
independence from the Americans
any more. Instead of standing back,
remaining neutral as in the past and
carefully assessing the pros and
cons of the situation in the Gulf and
acting as mediators, Prime Minister
Mulroney, without asking Parlia-
ment's permission until it was too
late, has thrown our lot in with the
U.S. and sent our troops to fight in
an unnecessary war in the Gulf.
Whatever happened to democracy?
Internally, the country is still
bickering about our Constitution.
Quebec's latest proposal. the
Allaire report, and its suggestion of
sovereignty association is guaran-
teed to Balkanize the country,
splitting it into tiny pieces that will
easily be absorbed by the U.S.
Looking at the Canadian political
and economic scene in the middle of
February at the height of a bout of
influenza seems bleak indeed. May-
be when the sun and warm weather
returns again in May it won't look
as bad, but I think it's coming down
to a crunch: do we want an
independent country or don't we?
And if we do, then we had better
start talking about it before it gets
too late and demanding a say on
how things are being run. Person-
ally, I prefer "0 Canada' to the
"Star Spangled Banner."
Jim Fitzgerald is General manager
of The Rural Voice magazine, a
former executive assistant to an
Ontario cabinet minister and a
candidate in the last provincial
election.
THAT'S HOW MANY
CANADIANS ARE
FIGURE SKATERS
nannanatnonP,