Free Trade/NAFTA: Turner 1988 & Trudeau 2017

[August1991]

John Turner, federal Liberal leader, argued in a debate in 1988 against free-trade with the US. 

Now, we have a federal Liberal, Justin Trudeau, who favours free trade with the US!

Is that irony? Or is this not irony but merely sarcasm? (Or is this the sarcasm of the Gods?)  

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Sarcasm: you know it's false.

Irony: the audience knows it's false.

[Topaz]

Trump may have a plan to include Canada and Mexico and not either country, just wait and see if it happens.

[Wilber]

Chretien said he was going to get rid of it and didn't. Reality set in. 

[-1=e^ipi]

It's about doing the opposite of whatever the Americans want to do. Cause Canadian nationalism/patriotism is defined by being not American. So Trudeau was very reluctant about trade (TPP, EU trade agreement) until Trump got elected then we became all for trade in order to be not-Trumpl

[Wilber]

1 hour ago, -1=e^ipi said:

It's about doing the opposite of whatever the Americans want to do. Cause Canadian nationalism/patriotism is defined by being not American. So Trudeau was very reluctant about trade (TPP, EU trade agreement) until Trump got elected then we became all for trade in order to be not-Trumpl

With Trump's isolationist rhetoric, it makes sense to try and open new markets.

[bush_cheney2004]

Just now, Wilber said:

With Trump's isolationist rhetoric, it makes sense to try and open new markets.

 

It made sense before Trump's rhetoric.

[Wilber]

4 minutes ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

 

It made sense before Trump's rhetoric.

Can't dissagree with that.

[Wilber]

I think that was what we were doing with the EU agreement and TPP.

[blackbird]

NAFTA is a good deal for both countries with more than one billion dollars a day in trade crossing the border and thousands of jobs in both countries depending on it.  I don't think it will be changed much.  Maybe some minor updating.   In the past the NDP was the most vocal opponent of free trade and their key supporters, the union leaders.  I'm not sure they are still opposed to it.  Maybe they have seen the light.

[cannuck]

American resentment of NAFTA is a result of it morphing from the Canada/US FTA - where two countries of similar culture, language and economic development - as well as two long-time military allies - just formalized what everyone knew made good sense.  Canada needed into NAFTA as it superceded the previous agreement.   At that time, 90% of all Canada/US trade was actually Ontario/US trade, and 80% of that was in the automotive sector (where brands were mostly owned, controlled or operated by US parents).  I don't think either of the original partners had any idea what it would be like to open the border to trade with a developing nation that had dead easy transportation links into the US.

Not only did Chretien campaign against NAFTA, so did Clinton.  They had little regard for each other to begin with, but working through the NAFTA deal made them good friends, and both realized with the information they had before them that it would be in keeping with their globalistic ideals to put it through.  We have always done well when we had personally friendly relations across the 49th - but we have never had that with a Trudeau in office.

Wait a minute, guess that's not true.  Fidel was South of the 49th, wasn't he?

Edited April 2, 2017 by cannuck