MP fired for having a spine
inverted @ Mon Nov 22, 2004 6:26 pm
My apologies in advance but this is probably going to ramble a little.
I could care less what the American government or public calls us (hell the more pissed at us the better chances we probably have of making deals in the rest of the world!) but to lower ourselves to their level is like being kids on a playground. I have never agreed with the way Parrish vocalized herself. She could have easily said that she didn't agree with missle defence etc.. without calling the entire country idiots.
As for her comments on the liberal party, it was definitly intentional, she wanted out and she wanted to make a splash on the way. More headline chasing! She has said so herself (CBC Broadcast) that she will vote with the liberal party most of the time but now she gets a bigger voice. A question a week, compared to what she had in the party.
We can't totally blame the Americans for everything happening to the cattle/wheat/softwood lumber and every other industry. The whole softwood lumber fiasco should have been the best time for the industry to go abroad. These are private companies, have they gone to Asia, Australia, S. America, Europe to sell more wood? I haven't heard of any big meetings between these private companies and other companies overseas. Same could be said for the cattle company. And hey they could probably get a break from Martin if they used Canada Steamship Lines to transport everything (oh yeah he gave control of the company to his son....yeah....sure!). What about our own manufacturing, how many of us would buy Canadian if we had the oppertunity? I know I would provided I wasn't getting overly gouged.
Rev_Blair @ Mon Nov 22, 2004 7:56 pm
A lot of the logging interests operating are American though. They aren;t interested in marketing abroad. There is also a narrowness of vision that has grown out of the FTA that causes all companies to look south and only south when looking for places to sell their products. They can either make money here in spite of the tariffs by passing costs on, or they simply shut their operations. They have little or no interest in developing value added products from our raw materials.
The same goes for the cattle industry. The corporate players have head offices in the United States. They have little or no interest in marketing to other parts of the world. Notice how Cargill had no problem being in contempt of Parliament? They simply took our money, added it to their bottom line insterad of passing it on to the farmers it was supposed to help, and the Conservatives blocked the motion to fine them.
"Safe" cuts of meat are travelling to the US right now. Why? Because Cargill does some slaughtering here in Canada...more than is required to supply their Canadian customers. Their backroom politicking in both countries may be backfiring on them...beef producers in all three prairie provinces are pushing for local slaughter houses so they don't have to deal with these monsters anymore.
Carolyn Parrish is the only Liberal who has stood up and spoken out against the US with any consistency. She has spoken out less frequently and much less eloquently than members of the NDP and on a narrower range of issues. That does not negate the fact that she has spoken out though and has refused to be muzzled by a power structure that is little more than an apologist for US hegemony. She deserves to be recognised and applauded for that.