So what do YOU think of the Yanks?
I havent really got round to asking this question yet... but there was an awful lot of ill feeling knocking around the office on Friday morning. Most of it caused by the Lumber dispute (i'd not heard of this, and when i googled it I realised i didnt know how to spell LUMBER properly either!)
I didnt come here to compare the Canadians with their southern cousins. It doesnt do this country any justice to sit and compare their relative attributes. Besides, well over 2/3 of the population here live within 150 km of the US border (Toronto for example has a US border to the east, west and south), so they know the things that are similar... and the things that arent.
The lumber dispute is 3 or 4 years old (see link), and goes like this. The Americans are scared that Canadian businesses are selling wood cheaper - both countries are part of the NAFTA (which is the local equivalent of the original EEC or EFTA). So in theory businesses can trade freely across borders. Not liking this, the Yanks crank a 29% tax on the importation of Canadian wood, to make it more expensive for US companies to buy and use Canadian wood. The Canadians pay the taxes and challenge the issues in court, win, win again, and then win a third time. At which point the tax charged has come to $5bn. The US then decides its not going to return the taxes the courts have deemed have been deducted illegally, but will try and seek a settlement. Bully its way out? You decide!
Do the Canadians like Americans? Probably. Do the Canadians like America? Probably as much as we do. Now and again the US just seems to annoy people. Besides, whats the point of going through the courts process, if you are just going to ignore what they say... the danger of that is that, today it might just be wood or steel, but tomorrow it might be the UN, and Iran, and nuclear testing and.... (sorry, politics at this level is for hard core bloggers like Scribbles!!). But if a country is going to be moral, it really has also to be SEEN to be moral, particularly by its own allies... which means ACTING morally when required to do so.
So today i may have taught all but one of you about a lumber dispute you werent aware of... but look at it another way. In the highly fashionable current climate of seeking an end to global poverty, how hard will it be for the developing world, if the EU is struggling to agree on its own financing (i assume we are still fighting the French for our EU subsidies), and the US cant deal with the loss of US $1bn a year to its nearest neighbour.
But i shall end this here, and return to more jovial topics in future. Like my driving. I am off for 2 weeks in Oshawa starting monday, so i am away now to rent a car....
I didnt come here to compare the Canadians with their southern cousins. It doesnt do this country any justice to sit and compare their relative attributes. Besides, well over 2/3 of the population here live within 150 km of the US border (Toronto for example has a US border to the east, west and south), so they know the things that are similar... and the things that arent.
The lumber dispute is 3 or 4 years old (see link), and goes like this. The Americans are scared that Canadian businesses are selling wood cheaper - both countries are part of the NAFTA (which is the local equivalent of the original EEC or EFTA). So in theory businesses can trade freely across borders. Not liking this, the Yanks crank a 29% tax on the importation of Canadian wood, to make it more expensive for US companies to buy and use Canadian wood. The Canadians pay the taxes and challenge the issues in court, win, win again, and then win a third time. At which point the tax charged has come to $5bn. The US then decides its not going to return the taxes the courts have deemed have been deducted illegally, but will try and seek a settlement. Bully its way out? You decide!
Do the Canadians like Americans? Probably. Do the Canadians like America? Probably as much as we do. Now and again the US just seems to annoy people. Besides, whats the point of going through the courts process, if you are just going to ignore what they say... the danger of that is that, today it might just be wood or steel, but tomorrow it might be the UN, and Iran, and nuclear testing and.... (sorry, politics at this level is for hard core bloggers like Scribbles!!). But if a country is going to be moral, it really has also to be SEEN to be moral, particularly by its own allies... which means ACTING morally when required to do so.
So today i may have taught all but one of you about a lumber dispute you werent aware of... but look at it another way. In the highly fashionable current climate of seeking an end to global poverty, how hard will it be for the developing world, if the EU is struggling to agree on its own financing (i assume we are still fighting the French for our EU subsidies), and the US cant deal with the loss of US $1bn a year to its nearest neighbour.
But i shall end this here, and return to more jovial topics in future. Like my driving. I am off for 2 weeks in Oshawa starting monday, so i am away now to rent a car....
posted by CBC at 4:02 pm
1 Comments:
Good recap on lumber.
I like America. I just can't stand some attitudes that come outta there. It's like I wanna say, "wipe the ignorance" off your faces would yea and chill. But hey - I'm just a Canadian who just happens to have a thing against higher then mighty ignorant attitudes. And that's what I see more and more coming from America - in trades, government and other areas.
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