Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks to the Council on Foreign Relations (yes, that group) today, and he hammers the Democratic Congress on an issue they have surprisingly found their spines for, despite cries of 'isolationism' and 'protectionism' from President Bush.
Read on if you have the stomach.
Frickin' PM Stephen Harper. Although all recent Canadian PMs since Brian Mulroney have just loved the redistribution of what wealth the middle-class have to the rich, which free trade entails. This diary is a spinoff from one of my comments at this great diary: Our Next President Will Serve One Term by jgoniak
Here's where PM Harper castigates the Democratic Congress for impeding the Colombia free trade agreement. He fails to mention that Colombia's gov't likes to kill unionizers and union leaders, supported by US corporations as is the norm in Latin America, as the wonderful diarist super simian noted: Bananas, Death Squads and a Slap on the Wrist. Al Gore has supported the Democrats' righteous position.
Harper speaks at the Council of Foreign Relations (yes, that group):
During his address to the Council on Tuesday, Harper also said he disagreed with several foreign policy decisions made by the White House administration, including a move to block a free-trade deal with Colombia.
"In my view, Colombia needs its democratic friends to lean forward and give them the chance at partnership and trade with North America," said Harper. "I am very concerned that some in the United States seem unwilling to do that. What message does that send to those who want to share in freedom and prosperity?"
Harper critical of U.S. policy
Well, I guess you can say that with conviction if the 'prosperity' rises to the top of the glass. Mexico has not benefitted like they said from NAFTA, with a few billionaires and monopolists like Carlos Slim who have captured the government, yet so much poverty, destruction, and dislocation. Directly from NAFTA.
It infuriates me that a leader can make such heartless comments. It's a religion: free trade above all or you're called isolationist, no matter what you think about universal rights or labour rights: it's all about "trade". Sickening and hopefully ignorant to; if not ignorant, then just more "code words" to the people on the CFR. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate, also experienced this closed-mindedness during his tenure at the discredited World Bank.
And does anyone remember when Conservatives of all stripes used to be against free trade?
Oh, on another note, the Canadians will almost certainly have an election this winter, with Harper's throne speech being pre-emptively slammed, and Harper borrowing some tour buses from I've heard some good analyses
Suffice to say, this is a critical moment in North American history, because Harper's gov't is in an unusually precarious position of the three North American, G7, and NATO leaders, that of a minority government (and most of the G7 governments are right-wing conservatives now-- somewhat unprecedented-- so Canada has the opportunity to buck a dangerous trend towards unilateral militarism): Minority Government
The webcast should be on the CFR web site soon: CFR Webcast
PS: If you in Ontario, I urge you to vote for MMP electoral reform in the October 10 referendum. Throw that rusty First past the post system that virtually no other modern democracy uses in the garbage, where all those wasted votes the size of Hudson's Bay go in a FPTP system:
http://voteformmp.ca
http://yourbigdecision.ca
http://electionsontario.on.ca
http://www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca/
==============================--------------==============================
REFERENCES:
Terrorism and Bananas in Colombia
Colombia suffering from unionist ‘genocide’ - By Anastasia Moloney in Bogotá - Published: August 7 2007 20:36 | Last updated: August 7 2007 1:36 - When the hitmen came to murder union leader Rodolfo Vecino, he was nowhere to be found.
"Harper says another minority government likely"
The Star reported that the Conservatives have already reserved two campaign buses currently in use by Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory -- who is already campaigning ahead of the Oct. 10 provincial election.
Two more Greyhound buses are also being prepared and "wrapped" with party logos and large photos of Harper, according to the newspaper.
NDP have also gotten buses together. Bloc Quebecois I mention below, also getting ready. Now the Liberals must choose whether to support the minority government or not, which they might want after the by-election losses with Liberals lost ; then again, regional by-elections in Quebec do not represent the entire electorate where numbers seem the same for all the parties. In addition, Harper wants to see how the October 10 Ontario election turns out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
'Canada’s back’ as middle power, PM tells U.S.'
UNITED NATIONS — Prime Minister Stephen Harper signalled Canada’s frustration with the political direction of the United States Tuesday, warning in a speech in New York against the dangers of "populism, nationalism and protectionism" south of the border.
Neocons hate populism, unless they engineer it for ulterior purposes with their Noble Lies. Harper, Bush Share Roots in Controversial Philosophy - Linked by Leo Strauss - Close advisers schooled in 'the noble lie' and 'regime change.'
Tories must dance to Bloc tune: Duceppe
Last Updated: Saturday, September 22, 2007 | 6:51 PM ET
Harper's team gears up for election
Sep 25, 2007 04:30 AM
Susan Delacourt
OTTAWA–Conservatives have been told to be ready to fire up the campaign buses for a federal election kick-off three days after the Harper minority government unveils its second throne speech on Oct. 16, sources say. ...The New Democrats seem more bullish on an election. They are readying campaign buses for federal NDP Leader Jack Layton's tour and will rely on expertise gained from Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton's tour. Ian Capstick, a spokesperson for Layton, said yesterday that the NDP campaign team will be made up of most of the same people who did the 2004 and 2006 campaigns. The New Democrats, with 170 nominated candidates to date, say they are buoyed by last week's by-election win in Outremont, and feel that result, plus Dion's leadership problems, can help the party in Quebec and Ontario.
Press Conference
Q: Mr. President, there's a deal taking place this morning where the government of Dubai would buy a share of - a stake in the NASDAQ stock market.
And there is some concern being expressed on Capitol Hill about this; it's another deal involving people overseas that we might not trust.
What's your reaction to it? And also, what's your level of concern about protectionism in general?
BUSH: My reaction is, is that we have a reform process in place that will be able to deal with this issue. In other words, we're going to take a good look at it, as to whether or not it has any national security implications involved in the transaction. And I'm comfortable with the process to go forward.
I'm also - I am concerned about protectionism. I'm concerned about it because if the United States loses its confidence when it comes to trading, it'll make it less likely our economy will grow. And I just told you, one of the underpinnings of our support is the fact that exports - for economic vitality is the fact that exports are up. And workers benefit when we're selling products overseas.
And I believe these free trade agreements will be an interesting test of protectionism - whether protectionism is real.
Got four trade agreements that we've negotiated that we want to get passed. And there's going to be some crucial votes coming up here pretty soon in the Congress. And we'll work hard to get all four trade agreements through. And if they don't get through, it is a sign that the protectionists are beginning to, you know, be on the ascendancy here in Washington, D.C., and that'd be a mistake.
=================================================================
PPS: May I just say that this book I happened upon at the CFR web site is slight disturbing? It's just more 'us v them' ideology that makes so much money for the bankers and military-industrial complex, and that our current leaders eat up, worryingly enough.
Gold and God
Since Oliver Cromwell’s day, the English-speakers have seen their enemies as haters of liberty and God who care nothing for morality, who will do anything to win, and who rely on a treacherous fifth column to assure victory.
Those enemies, from Catholic Spain and Louis XIV to the Nazis, communists, and al-Qaeda, held similar beliefs about their British and American rivals, but we see that though the Anglo-Americans have lost small wars here and there, they have won the major conflicts. So far.
Walter Russell Mead, one of our most distinguished foreign policy experts, makes clear that the key to the predominance of the United States and England has been the individualistic ideology of the prevailing Anglo-American religion. Mead explains how this helped create a culture uniquely adapted to capitalism, a system under which both countries thrived. We see how, as a result, the two nations were able to create the liberal, democratic system whose economic and social influence continues to grow around the world.
"A remarkable piece of historical analysis."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
The stakes today are higher than ever; technological progress makes new and terrible weapons easier for rogue states and terror groups to develop and deploy. Where some see an end to history and others a clash of civilizations, Mead sees the current conflicts in the Middle East as the latest challenge to the liberal, capitalist, and democratic world system that the Anglo-Americans are trying to build. What we need now, he says, is a diplomacy of civlizations based on a deeper understanding of the recurring conflicts between the liberal world system and its foes. In practice, this means that Americans generally, and especially the increasingly influential evangelical community, must develop a better sense of America’s place in the world.