'Our target is a good deal for Canada. It was our target from the start, it is our target now. It is the only thing we're thinking of. We discussed some tough issues ... The atmosphere continues to be constructive,' Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018, before leaving Washington after two days of 'tough' talks.Chris Wattie/Reuters
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NAFTA ‘deadlines’
Re A Bad NAFTA Deal? Take It And Run, Canada (Sept. 21): The vaunted “deadlines” to conclude a new NAFTA deal are not ours. Donald Trump is desperate for a win before the U.S. midterms in November. Mexico is anxious to sign off before its new president takes office on Dec. 1 and has to “own” the agreement. These are not our problems and these are not “our” deadlines.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland can keep “running out the clock” because Canada’s chances improve immeasurably if the Democrats retake the House and Senate in the midterms, and sanity returns.
Many of the red states depend on Canadian customers; state governors and business councils have tried to make that clear to the Trump administration. And Mexico’s new president will have to put on his big boy pants and own whatever agreement was signed by his predecessor. Welcome to playing in the big leagues.
When has giving in to a bully ever worked? Don’t we tell our children to stand up to bullies? If someone had stood up to Donald Trump when he was in Grade 2, the world wouldn’t be undergoing the insanity being foisted on it now. That in itself should be enough of a reason to let Ms. Freeland continue negotiations on our path and schedule – not his.
Eve Giannini, Toronto
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My late father was a cattle dealer in Ontario’s Prince Edward County, so I have always had enormous respect for farmers, their work ethic and contributions to Canada’s economy and social fabric.
That said, agriculture’s share of the economy has been in steady decline for decades. Yet Canadian farmers and their lobbyists somehow manage to hold enormous sway over our politicians. Canadian negotiators appear ready to risk the collapse of NAFTA rather than face the wrath of farmers by further opening up the market.
Let’s not risk having the entire Canadian economy slide into recession in order to shield a relatively small number of dairy farmers from the new global reality. Time to make some reasoned concessions to get a deal done.
Judith Levine, Westmount, Que.
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The Americans should be reminded of the real reason for stymied NAFTA negotiations. Viz, how on Earth can Canada trust the word of the U.S. negotiators when their boss, Donald Trump, lies and changes his mind from one minute to the next on any deal he makes? That’s why Chrystia Freeland can’t accept a deal without a cast iron guarantee that Mr. Trump won’t suddenly break it with additional auto tariffs. The Republicans in Congress know this but brazenly tell us to sign or else. Maybe we need an op-ed in The New York Times by Ms. Freeland to help stop the bullying.
There are plenty of Americans who will suffer if there is a trade war and Canada imposes countertariffs. The American public has been grossly misinformed by Mr. Trump and his GOP cronies.
If the U.S. public in the states at risk understood that it’s the Americans and not the Canadians who are negotiating in bad faith, it might focus the minds of the Republicans seeking re-election in those states and stop them participating in this Trump charade.
Alan Mew, Baie d’Urfe, Que.
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As a dual citizen – Canadian and American – and a permanent resident of Arizona, I would urge Canada to ignore Republican protestations about foot-dragging on concessions. Stay the course until after Nov. 8, when all 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs in the midterms.
A possible Democratic majority would be much less interested in pleasing Donald Trump.
John Olson, Gold Canyon, Ariz.
Rough crossing
To date, I have only read negative letters in The Globe and Mail criticizing MP Leona Alleslev’s floor crossing from the Liberals to the Conservatives. Would these letter writers have the same opinion if she had crossed from the Conservatives to the Liberals?
Dan Petryk, Calgary
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A letter writer talks of the “betrayal” of “jumping party fences” with relation to Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MP Leona Alleslev’s leaving the Liberals and joining the Conservative ranks (Floored by Alleslev – Sept. 20).
Though infrequent, switching parties is an accepted parliamentary tradition called “crossing the floor.” Winston Churchill early in his parliamentary career crossed and re-crossed the floor as an MP on matters of principle.
Ms. Alleslev, a principled former military officer, may feel the radically progressive, endlessly grandstanding Liberal Party no longer stands on guard or properly advocates economically for Canada. Her Canada, her legitimate concerns, her choice after all: ’Nough said!
Let the good, committed and conscientious residents of her riding vote on her political move and her personal sincerity barely a year from now in October, 2019, in the next election – for which all the federal parties are busily prepping.
Rob Bredin, Orangeville, Ont.
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Crossed the floor? More like crossed the people who voted for her.
Make that double-crossed. And no, I didn’t vote for her.
Anne Kowalski Smith, Richmond Hill, Ont.
Mind the tax gaps. Shhh
In last Saturday’s Report on Business, CIBC chief executive Victor Dodig, along with other top Canadian CEOs, was reported to warn that Canada is a bad place to do business (CEOs Make Case For Tax Cuts, Being Careful Not To Mention Tax Cuts); Mr. Dodig suggested that this dire situation could be remedied by lowering corporate taxes. He made this suggestion while the bank racked up $4.7-billion in profit last year.
Turning the page in the Report on Business, we learned that 10 years after the 2008 economic meltdown, global economic growth is slow (The 10-Year Hangover: How The Long Shadow Of The Global Financial Crisis Endures). Furthermore, while employment rates are high, wages have stagnated, and debt held by governments, corporations and citizens is at record levels.
Could Mr. Dodig and the other CEOs please explain who is going to fill the tax gap if the federal government lowers corporate taxes?
If the tax gap isn’t filled and instead spending is cut, for example on education, health care and pensions, then have the CEOs figured out how, with stagnant wages, they will maintain their profits? As we are often reminded, there is no free lunch – although the lunches of the lower and middle classes keep getting squeezed.
Miriam Diamond, Toronto
Damned if you do ...
Re Trudeau Apologizes For Unparliamentary Language (Sept. 20): Our PM’s use of “damn” in Parliament was not unparliamentary.
Among the various entries for the word, Oxford characterizes the adjective “damn” as being merely “informal” and not as unacceptable, derogatory or obscene. It provides numerous examples of the use of the word in every damn ordinary context, wherever English is spoken.
Justin Trudeau’s non-outburst was damn clever politically, as was his quick “apology” and withdrawal.
Andrew Orkin, Toronto