Canada Feeling the Effects of Its Bully Neighbor

When it comes to being neighborly, the United States government, as manhandled and abused by George Bush and his gang of miscreants, is anything but. It certainly doesn't pay to be our neighbor to the north, Canada. There are no such thing as special favors or extra perks because Canada is our neighbor. We treat them just like everyone else. In fact, we may even treat them more harshly because their natural resources are so close right next door.

All you have to do is look at how our government behaves toward Canada on issues of trade like beef, water, steel, and softwood lumber. Simply put, we are bullies. We stampede the NAFTA agreement into reality and then, when it suits us, we ignore it.

Here's an example of how injurious NAFTA is to Canada: The American company, United Parcel Service, under one insane NAFTA clause, is now suing the Canadian national postal service because it believes the Canadian postal service is interfering with UPS' business in Canada. That's just about as crazy as Al-Queda suing the Department fo Homeland Security because it is interfering with Al-Queda's activities in the US. What it amounts to, of course, is a simple American corporate power grab in a foreign country, using what is really a corporate vehicle to do it, NAFTA. CAFTA is no different in its corporate impact.

The dispute between Canada and the US regarding Canadian lumber exports is just as bad. Despite NAFTA rulings in favor of Canada against the punitive tariffs that the US slapped on it for its softwood lumber imports into the US, the Bush administration is continuing its hardline and refusing to lift the tariffs. Here's the latest editorial about this issue from the Toronto Star.

One thing is certain. If the Bush regime feels it is in the interest of its corporate clients to continue to be a bad neighbor, it will do so religiously.