In his opinion piece on Nov. 23, Colin Mayes trots out all the usual buzzwords and hyperbole surrounding the issue of trade, including “vibrant economy” and “prosperity” and other typical groupspeak propaganda. Mayes then cites various statistics regarding the increasing volume of trade and concludes by stating that the Harper government is concerned with protecting the environment through all of this.
Of course, it is the Harper government which recently took all the teeth out of environmental oversight and legislation. And it is the Harper government, along with Mr. Mayes, who conveniently ignore the fact that, despite the current unprecedented level of global trade and trade agreements, the standard of living is in fact in decline in Canada, unemployment remains persistently high (while we import workers from China for mines in British Columbia), the Canadian economy is lurching and creaking as though it is about to fall down completely, Canadians have record levels of personal debt, and the taxpaying Canadian middle class is being wiped out as jobs are exported to countries with much lower wages and labour standards.
Who actually benefits from all of this? I see no reduction in the fat compensation packages for corporate CEOs, or for our politicians for that matter. There is nothing trickling down to the average Canadian, which of course is nothing new as trickle down economic theory is nothing but a fabrication used by the wealthy to keep the herd from stampeding.
No, the next trade agreement I wish to see in Canada is one where we trade our current “government” for one which actually cares about the average Canadian, rather than continuing to line the pockets of the one-percenters.
Rick Shea