The Rural Voice, 1988-08, Page 14Hagedorn
LIVESTOCK
HANDLING
EQUIPMENT
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519-353-5642
2 THE RURAL VOICE
FREE TRADE: TO
PUT IT POLITELY ...
To put it politely, the promised
parliamentary opposition to the
Canada -U.S. free trade pact sucked.
The free trade legislation is now in
committee where the opposition and
government representatives, led by
Mulroney's official Court Jester, John
Crosbie, will debate the enabling
legislation.
The positive side to this exercise is
that Crosbie, who says he hasn't read
the whole bill (just the funny parts, I'd
guess), just may be forced to read the
small print.
However, few fireworks are expec-
ted out of committee because its task
is not to debate the intent, just to see if
the legislation conforms with the pact
signed last October by Ronald Reagan
and Brian "Muldoon," as one U.S.
senator called Mulroney by mistake.
If the opposition were serious
about obstructing this Conservative
legislation — which would have made
the father of Conservatism in Canada,
Sir John A. MacDonald, burn his
membership card — it would have
boycotted this rubber-stamp process.
John Turner bringing the geriatric
Senate into the battle is a fine last line
of defence. The front-line attack,
though, must be borne by the 'grunts'
in the front-line House committee.
It's legislation that's being
rammed through by the Conservatives,
and all the opposition did by participa-
ting from the outset was give the pact
credibility. It's time that the opposi-
tion blushed away its yellow streak.
The supply -management folks in
agriculture should be resting a little
more uneasily these days if they've
heard of leaked U.S. and Canadian
trade papers on bilateral Canada -U.S.
trade and the multinational GATT
(General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade) round of talks.
Listen up, folks. The notorious
Yankee Trader is gunning for supply -
management marketing boards again,
despite the fact that he only wounded
them in the Canada -U.S. talks.
Note one May 16 confidential
paper leaked to Ontario Federation of
Agriculture president Brigid Pyke:
"The United States has not yet
succeeded in eliminating ... quotas
which still restrict U.S. opportunities
to sell in the Canadian market. In
addition to the (GATT) negotiations,
the United States intends to seek
further liberalization with respect to
agricultural import barriers as a high
priority of our bilateral relationship
with Canada"
That's about the essence of several
other U.S. papers leaked to me in July.
Pretty scary stuff.
I'm one city guy who's just as
scared as supply -management farmers
are, or at least should be.
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but
seeing as I can't feed myself — the
only thing I grow successfully is
fungus in my basement — I want to
be fed by Canadian farmers.
I'm willing to pay extra to ensure
that my eggs, chicken, and turkey are
homegrown because I know if a
country can feed itself, it can maintain
its political independence.
Quite frankly, I don't want to
depend for my daily bread on the
multinational corporations which
produce poultry products in vertically
integrated mega -industries in the
United States. The multinationals
already have a strong enough foot-
hold in Canada.
I know where my loyalties lie —
in Canada. And theirs? — the
almighty buck.
I also know where Brian
Mulroney's loyalties lie — in old-
fashioned continentalism. And John
Crosbie's? — in stand-up comedy.
Now's the time for you to decide
where your loyalties lie.0
Gord Wainman has been an urban -
based agriculture reporter for 13 years.