Another Nail In His Coffin

Stephen Harper, the self-professed economist (can you call yourself that when you don't have a Ph.D.?) who 'claims' such sterling management to the economy, has received another blow to his exaggerated and unwarranted reputation of competence:

A European Union analysis of the just-completed trade agreement with Canada suggests the EU gained more than it expected — and might have settled for less had Ottawa pushed harder.

The internal document, obtained by The Canadian Press, indicates EU exporters expect to make great inroads in the Canada market. Negotiators hope the gains can be used to their advantage in other trade negotiations, including talks with the United States that have just begun.

Could that be the real reason the CETA negotiations were conducted in such unprecedented secrecy?

Shh! Don't Ask!

I have to confess to feeling a small measure of guilt each time I reproduce someone else's words with little editorializing on my part. Yet my ego is sufficiently robust to be able to acknowledge the fact that there are many others with views that merit space in this blog, views that are in many cases expressed more elequently and succinctly than mine.

Such is the following letter from today's Star by Judy Ward of Oshawa as she opines on CETA, about which I have written in the past. Ms Ward speaks for many as she strongly objects to the Harper cabal's obsession with keeping Canadians ignorant about a trade deal that could have devastating domestic effects:

Canada-EU trade deal is wishful thinking, Business June 20

We read day after day about our prime minister travelling about the world and talking free trade. Why doesn’t he talk to Canadians? He wants a free-trade pact with the EU. What is he planning to trade away in order to secure this agreement? Why doesn’t he let Canadians know what is on the table in these talks? We have a right to know.

It is rumoured that the EU wants to change our banking rules. Why? So we can end up like Spain or Greece or Portugal or Cyprus or even Ireland? It is also rumoured that if businesses didn’t like our rules they could sue us for loss of income.

But what frightens me is that our prime minister may be trading away our health care. We have a right to know what is on the table and health care should not in any way, shape or form be on the table. No hospitals, drugs or any aspect of health care should be bartered in the name of free trade.
The secrecy surrounding these talks is frightening. This information should be available to Canadians. We are the ones who have to live with the decisions made by the government. We have a right to know what its plans are. If the opposition parties know what is happening with these talks, then they should make it public.

This is the most secretive government I can ever recall. Tell us what is being bartered in these talks before an agreement is signed.

Maude Marlow On The Dire Implications of A Pending Trade Agreement

Scanning the Globe's website, I read an article by Maude Barlow, National Chair of the Council of Canadians, regarding a trade agreement that could further erode our sovereignty. NAFTA-like in its scope and mechanisms, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) would accord to European business entities many of the same rights Americans enjoy to sue Canada over, for example, environmental laws that affect their ability to conduct business. No wonder the Harper Conservative Government has been so secretive about these negotiations, given how the pact, if ratified, will give it a further excuse to do nothing to address our environmental concerns.