[somebigguy]

<strong>Written By:</strong> somebigguy
<strong>Date:</strong> 2006-10-01 09:17:00
<a href="/article/81743849-most-canadians-dont-benefit-from-free-trade-report">Article Link</a>

Similarly, the U.S. institute carries out economic research and education, with a "concern for the the living standards of working people."

While trade between the NAFTA partners has grown rapidly, the free trade deals have not helped all workers, the report says.

"The most striking feature of this growing inequality has been the massive gains of the richest one per cent of income earners at the expense of most of the population," said Campbell, who called for a major assessment of the costs and benefits of the North American free trade Agreement.

"Economic and political elites promised that free trade would usher in a golden era of prosperity for Canada. It clearly has not delivered the goods."

The institute's report found similar problems in Mexico and, to a lesser extent, the United States.

"In each nation, workers' share of the gains from rising productivity fell and the proportion of income and wealth going to those at the very top of the economic pyramid grew," said Jeff Faux, founder of the Washington-based think-tank.

<a href="http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/webapp/sitepages/search/results.asp?contentID=210457&catname=World&type=search&search1=free%20trade">http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/webapp/sitepages/search/results.asp?contentID=210457&catname=World&type=search&search1=free%20trade</a>








[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on October 2, 2006]

[Milton]

Good post somebigguy. Have you posted your lists of media contacts & mailing addresses anywhere on this site?

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"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
(Albert Einstein)

[Diogenes]

"free trade in North America has resulted in sharp gains for the rich at the expense of the average Canadian worker, says a report from the U.S. Economic Policy Institute released Thursday."

Wow! I AM surprised!
Who woulda guessed it?

---
Diogenes said:
"I am Diogenes the Dog. I nuzzle the kind, bark at the greedy and bite scoundrels."

[Deacon]

Just more confirmation of the obvious fact that NAFTA and other "treaties" of it's ilk are just tools used by the rich to gain more wealth at the expense of the average Canadian/American/Mexican worker.

And more proof that Mulroney sold Canada out, and now we have his prodigy (or pehaps "progeny" is a better word?) Harper taking it even further.

Traitorous bastards.



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"and the knowledge they fear is a weapon to be used against them"

"The Weapon" - Rush

[Ed Deak]

The only purpose of these fraudulent free trade deals is the destruction of democracy. We predicted this 20 years ago, when this planned crime wave first raised its ugly head.

Mulroney was elected on an anti "free trade" platform in 1984, he was on the plane to Reagan a day, or two, after after his election and returned a confirmed supporter of wealth creating free trade. The fastest conversion in history, until Emerson's sudden discovery that was a Conservative.

Ed Deak.

[Diogenes]

What I fail to understand is how those whodovote are so taken in by confidence men and obvious crooks.

Is there no hope for the electorate to wise up?
and where are all those blowhard individuals, warlocks and the like when these issues present themselves or the 'don't-vote-eh? contingent or thoise who would, like rabid she-wolves go after spelling errors?



---
Diogenes said:
"I am Diogenes the Dog. I nuzzle the kind, bark at the greedy and bite scoundrels."

[Wraun]

I don't know what kind of response you guys have been getting from whoever, wherever you try to educate on the topic of North American Union but I am becoming very discouraged here in Oilberta.
Maybe I need to simplify for the masses eh? Maybe we should get to the root of the evil and just start a campaign to abrogate NAFTA? This report would be a good start for ammunition and I know Mel Hurtig's "Vanishing Country" is an excellent source of infuriating information. Maybe now's the time. Maybe it could be an election platform.

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Dear Abby, Dear Abby my fountain pen leaks, my wife hollers at me and the kids are all freaks

[somebigguy]

Hey Milton, what media list do you mean?

Seeing as how Free Trade has made the rich richer and the poor poorer, what does everyone think will happen if the North American Union that Bush is pushing so hard comes into affect???

[Ed Deak]

You should be pleased to know that Alberta is already building the hookup to the great NAFTA superhighway, connecting to the US side at Sweetgrass, Montana, and continuing up to Dawson Creek, then up to Alaska. 4 to 6 lanes, without a single traffic light all the way, exits at population centres at 2 mile intervals.

Its Albertan name is "North-South Trade Corridor", hooking the Land of the True Believers firmly to our "great friends and biggest trading partners". Deep integration on its way.

I also found out from top line inside sources that the great Alberta "debtfree" claim is a bloody lie.

Alberta is $100. billion behind service payments and costs.

But then, this is the world of the great neocon/neoclassical experiment, where everything is possible as long as the suckers believe it.

Ed Deak.

[somebigguy]

Has everyone seen Freedom to Fascism yet?

It suddenly makes sense why the politicians and corporate elite never seem to care about the wildly out of control deficit. It is so they can enslave us with heavy tax burdens that we don't have a hope in hell of paying off while the elite get rich from the interest payments.

That 100 billion in payments that they are behind in is simply more money in their pockets compliments of the working schmoes.

It is now so crystal clear how they operate...

[Patm]

Thats because the FTA and NAFTA had nothing to do with trade. Trade agreements were already in place under GATT and didn't change much at all under the two following treaties.

FTA and NAFTA were about "foreign direct investment" (FDI), which is the euphamism for economic colonialism - where foreign powers buy out all the businesses and collect all the value for hoarding offshore. The decline of the Canadian dollar from $1.10 american to just over $0.60 was so that the offshore corporations could make larger profits - cheap labour is handy.

The recent resurgence of the Canadian dollar is necessary for the planned implementation of a north american currency. It doesn't look good when Americans can trade their greenbacks at par for Ameros while Canadians have to pay two loonies for one. That might cause some resistance to the switch and they cannot have that.

[Wraun]

Okay, I'm not going to bet against the super highway or the provincial debt but can you give me a link to some proof. If the people can SEE that King Ralph et al has been lying to them about their debt, that might help to change their attitudes.
What about the abrogate NAFTA campaign idea, you can't have deep integration without NAFTA and the time for talk is clearly over.

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Dear Abby, Dear Abby my fountain pen leaks, my wife hollers at me and the kids are all freaks

[Ed Deak]

Wraun.....Unfortunately, I can't give you a link to the real debt, as it was leaked to me by somebody well positioned to know the real facts. In any case, I'm told that many of the facts can be found in the neglected infrastructure system, apparently badly in need of long postponed repairs and improvements, which amount to an estimated $100. billion. The government, apparently knows this very well, as they have the reports, but are covering it up. Klein's successor will most likely be another corporate pimp.

As far the highway is concerned, my understanding is that it is now being developed over the old routes and an open secret.

The route will follow the widened and straightened roads through Milk River, Lethbridge, McLeod, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottoway, Blue Ridge, Valleyview, Grande Praerie, Dawson Creek and then up to Alaska. The plan is for unlimited resource extraction and taking it South.

I'm now waiting to find out where the connection from Vancouver into this highway will go? Most likely over the existing Trans Canada Hwy, which would be widened and straightened out.

On the other hand, as the real plans are for North to South movement, I believe the existing roads, going South from then BC interior will be used, as going through the Rockies would be far too much trouble, so the link to the East won't be necessary.

Ed Deak.

[SphinxMontreal]

Ed, did you mention neglected infrastructure? As you've probably heard by now, a Laval, Quebec highway overpass collapsed the other day killing five motorists. The same type of Laval highway overpass collapsed in June of 2000 killing one motorist and injuring two.<br />
<br />
So what did the governement do after the 2000 incident to make the roads safer for the public? Obviously, with this second tragedy, the government did absolutely nothing. They pretty much gave the offenders (no doubt buddies of government officials) a slap on the wrist.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=5d9b57b5-a217-44fb-94d5-abe57115c495">http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=5d9b57b5-a217-44fb-94d5-abe57115c495</a><br />
<br />
What happened to all the tax dollars which should go towards repairing this old, dangerous and neglected infrastructure? Thanks to an insidious government, Montreal currently resembles a crumbling and crime ridden third world country.<br />
<br />
And thank you Mr. Mulroney for hanging "your people" out to dry. Canadian history will remember you as the dirtbag politician, who literally put into motion the mechanisms to obliterate a once beautiful and prosperous country.<br />
<br />
So let's go and spend $3.5 Billion (estimate thru 2009) on the senseless Afghan War, while our country starts resembling Afghanistan. With this government, the number one priority - GREED - is becoming more and more obvious.<br />
<br />
The rich get richer and the poor get the picture. Wake up dead men!

[Wraun]

<p>Well there certainly are some nasty highways in this province but realistically, I attribute that, largely, to <ol><li>the winters,</li> <li> the booming economy (ironic I know but there is a massive amount of truck traffic) but mostly, </li> <li>we BC'ers must remember that here in Alberta there is no bedrock on which to lay a highway.</li></ol> Hence, frost heaves and trucks destroy highways very fast and the cost of upkeep is therefore more than for a province like BC.</p><p> It makes total sense to send a branch of the supa-highway up through Sweet Grass to Alaska via Dawson Creek. I haven't been down south for quite a while so don't know of any highway improvement projects going on down there but I was up highway 43 last summer and many miles of the Onoway to Valleyview stretch were being four-laned.</p> <p>Still, as I said above twice - as it relates to the topic of the thread - why is there not a campaign to abrogate NAFTA? You can't have deep integration without it and none of us "regular folk" are benefiting from it, so let's get out of it. That <b>IS</b> an option!</p><p>---<br>Dear Abby, Dear Abby my fountain pen leaks, my wife hollers at me and the kids are all freaks