Time For Canada To Take A Stand

Thunder Bay, Ontario - Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - by: Peggy Smith

railing
I'm railing like a lot of other Canadians against the U.S. actions on softwood lumber. But what are we going to do about it?

U.S.
ignored
The federal government has declared its impotence to do anything but go back to costly trade tribunals whose previous decisions the U.S. has ignored.

balance
of
trade
International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew explained recently on a radio show that Canada has to be careful because it is in such a "strong" position when it comes to our balance of trade with the U.S. Apparently Canada has the potential to lose more than the U.S. through retaliatory measures because we export so much more to the U.S. than we import from them.

dependence
The interviewer astutely questioned whether this position was one not of "strength" but of "dependence", preventing us from taking any meaningful action against the U.S.'s arbitrary and self-serving tariffs against Canadian lumber exports. Not that we as a country shouldn't take a close look at the structure of our forest industry, our forestry practices, the need for stronger environmental protection and sharing benefits with Aboriginal Peoples whose homelands are those forests, but that's our business, not that of the United States.

bidding
It is galling to have the U.S. telling us that we should go to a U.S.-style auction bidding system, away from our system of-theoretically at least-managing public forest lands in the best interests of the Canadian public. The U.S. is sending a tired and limiting message to let the free market reign supreme by privatizing forest lands and letting the highest bidder take all-U.S. companies, most likely, led by the industry lobby, the so-called Coalition for Fair Lumber Exports.

raw
logs
As Bogdan Kipling, an editorial columnist recently wrote, we shouldn't kid ourselves; what the U.S. wants is Canadian raw logs. One strong measure that Canada could take against the U.S. is to invoke the six-month abrogation clauses and give notice that Canada is canceling the free trade agreements. So-called "free trade" is a sham in this climate of U.S. protectionism. It's time for Canada to take a stand.

Peggy Smith, R.P.F., Professor
Faculty of Forestry & the Forest Environment Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1
PH: (807)343-8672

References:

Lakehead University Faculty of Forestry web site

Peggy Smith's home page

Wednesday, March 27, 2002, The Halifax Herald Limited Pettigrew's stamina seen as soft as the lumber By Bogdan Kipling



Thunder Bay, Ontario - Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - by: Peggy Smith

railing	I'm railing like a lot of other Canadians against the U.S. actions on softwood lumber. But what are we going to do about it?

U.S. ignored	The federal government has declared its impotence to do anything but go back to costly trade tribunals whose previous decisions the U.S. has ignored.

balance of trade	International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew explained recently on a radio show that Canada has to be careful because it is in such a "strong" position when it comes to our balance of trade with the U.S. Apparently Canada has the potential to lose more than the U.S. through retaliatory measures because we export so much more to the U.S. than we import from them.

dependence	The interviewer astutely questioned whether this position was one not of "strength" but of "dependence", preventing us from taking any meaningful action against the U.S.'s arbitrary and self-serving tariffs against Canadian lumber exports. Not that we as a country shouldn't take a close look at the structure of our forest industry, our forestry practices, the need for stronger environmental protection and sharing benefits with Aboriginal Peoples whose homelands are those forests, but that's our business, not that of the United States.

bidding	It is galling to have the U.S. telling us that we should go to a U.S.-style auction bidding system, away from our system of-theoretically at least-managing public forest lands in the best interests of the Canadian public. The U.S. is sending a tired and limiting message to let the free market reign supreme by privatizing forest lands and letting the highest bidder take all-U.S. companies, most likely, led by the industry lobby, the so-called Coalition for Fair Lumber Exports.

raw logs	As Bogdan Kipling, an editorial columnist recently wrote, we shouldn't kid ourselves; what the U.S. wants is Canadian raw logs. One strong measure that Canada could take against the U.S. is to invoke the six-month abrogation clauses and give notice that Canada is canceling the free trade agreements. So-called "free trade" is a sham in this climate of U.S. protectionism. It's time for Canada to take a stand.

	Peggy Smith, R.P.F., Professor Faculty of Forestry & the Forest Environment Lakehead University Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1 PH: (807)343-8672

*References:*
	Lakehead University Faculty of Forestry web site

	Peggy Smith's home page

	Wednesday, March 27, 2002, The Halifax Herald Limited Pettigrew's stamina seen as soft as the lumber By Bogdan Kipling