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From: jimr@hcrvx2.UUCP (Jim Robinson)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: 'Free' Trade?
Message-ID: <2713@hcrvx2.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Feb-87 18:38:47 EST
Article-I.D.: hcrvx2.2713
Posted: Tue Feb 10 18:38:47 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 11-Feb-87 00:37:42 EST
References: <12419@watnot.UUCP> <164@idacom.UUCP>
Reply-To: jimr@hcr.UUCP (Jim Robinson)
Followup-To: can.politics
Distribution: can
Organization: HCR Corporation, Toronto
Lines: 51
Summary: 

In article <164@idacom.UUCP> danny@idacom.UUCP (Danny Wilson) writes:
>I agree that in any agreement forged by the Americans, it will be us
                               ^^^^^^^^^
>who get the short end of the stick. In general, the Americans have
>not exactly been 'sensitive' to other cultures around the world.
>One only has to travel to other parts of the world to see the reception
>Americans get there. The common complaint, in Europe, and the Far East,
>we hear from Americans is: "WHAT THE H**L DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T DO THAT!?.
>THAT'S NOT THE WAY WE RUN <something> BACK HOME!!"
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>The thing they don't seem to realize is >>They aren't back home<<

Naturally, in any agreement "forged by the Americans", Canada will 
get the "short end of the stick". However, one would like to think that
any free(er) agreement that comes out of these talks was forged by
*both* countries.

A valid complaint is made above that Americans often don't realize that
things are run differently in other countries. However, Canadians
suffer from the problem that because they perceive themselves (and, in
fact, are widely perceived by others) as inoffensive, harmless,
and reasonable people, they should be treated with  "kid gloves"
when dealing with the outside world. Unfortunately, it does not work
that way. The vast majority of countries look out for their own best
interest and are not interested in being fair (consider Quebec and the
CF-18 brouhaha for a domestic example, or France with their outrageous
demand for a 200 mile economic zone off their 2 tiny islands).
Why anyone should think that the US, of all places, should act otherwise
is beyond me.

The Canadian government should have anticipated the Americans playing
hardball and should have been ready to submit a list of demands that
they knew would not be accepted by the US which they could then trade
off. E.g., Canada could have demanded the right to bid on, and be 
considered for, any and all US defence contracts. They were not ready
for this and now they're paying for it. 

Hopefully, they'll get their act together. Personally, I'm not too
worried that Canada will agree to a deal that is clearly not in this
country's interest. I imagine that unless a clear majority of Canadians
give the thumbs up, Brian will say "sorry" and that will be that. 
(I believe this because Brian is very interested in getting re-elected
and a trade deal that displeases a significant percentage of the
population will in no way help this cause) What does worry me 
is that the government's poor bargaining skills will make
it impossible for them to submit an acceptable trade proposal to the
Canadian people. 

J.B. Robinson