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Home My WebLink AboutClinton News Record, 2015-10-07, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, October 7, 2015 www.clintonnewsrecord.com NowsCl Record PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 www.clintonnewsrecord.com 1J POSTMEDIA MARIE DAVID Group Advertising Director - Grey Bruce Huron Division 519 376-2250 ext 514301 or 510364-2001 ext 531024 roi NEIL CLIFFORD Advertising Director neil.clifford@sunmedia.ca LAURA BROADLEY Reporter clinton.reporter@sunmedia.ca DAWN JOHNSTON Sales Representative clinton.ads@sunmedia.ca TERESA SMITH Front Office dinton.classifieds@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) SENIORS 60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged but that balance of advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographic error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Ad- vertising is merely an offerto sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Clinton News -Record is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproducing purposes. Publications Mail Agreement No.40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 53 Albert St., Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. AO Canada y�Member of the Canadian Community Cl a Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association editorial Postmedia Network file photo Protectionism and free trade don't mix Dairy farmers from around Ottawa took their cows and tractors to Par- liament Hill this week, to protest the changes they expect in the Trans - Pacific Partnership trade deal. What has farmers worried is the fact that Canada is unlikely to reach a deal without making some "concessions" in the dairy sector — that being to allow Canadians to buy more foreign cheese than they can now. Access to imports is a good thing for the country. It increases domestic pro- ductivity by increasing competition and reducing the costs of doing busi- ness, including for exporters. Politi- cians don't like to talk about it that way, because it makes protected domestic industries nervous. Instead, they act as if imports are the regretta- ble price we pay for exports. That's why lower tariffs are called a "conces- sion" - until a government wants to make political hay out of, say, cheaper sports equipment for kids, and then all of a sudden they acknowledge that tar- iffs raise costs in Canada. It makes no sense to argue, as every one of our federal leaders effectively does, "I believe in free trade, and I will fight to protect our tariffs on dairy." These are two mutually exclusive ideas. If free trade is good, tariffs are bad; this is not exactly complicated logic to fol- low. If you believe domestic industries need to be protected from foreign com- petition through tariffs, fine! That's an opinion you're perfectly entitled to hold, in 2015 as in 1985. But you're then by definition not a free trader. Lower tariffs are not a price we pay for free trade. Lower tariffs are free trade. All the nonsensical "water in our wine" rhetoric about trade deals, espe- cially from self-serving politicians who have enough basic economics training that they ought to know better, has the effect of confusing people about what trade deals are for and how they work. The benefits ("market access") become nebulous and distant while the sup- posed "costs" are concrete and local: milk spilled on the streets around Parliament. Meanwhile, dairy farmers have legit- imate grievances. They've bought in to a system that is slowly being eroded through these trade deals because the government (and all parties) are too gutless to offer fair reform instead. And even many farmers who might defend the general principles behind supply management haven't been completely happy with the way the quota system works in practice, the barriers it cre- ates to growth and investment. The TPP is a complicated deal, and not all of it will necessarily be good for Canada. But political rhetoric shouldn't add to the confusion by implying that imports are evil. - Postmedia Network LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The News Record welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include a daytime phone number for verification purposes. Let- ters can be sent care of the Internet at clinton.reporter@sunmedia.ca, sent via fax at 519-482-7341 or through Canada Post care of The Editor, P.O. Box 39, Clinton, ON NOL 1LO. 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