Stephen Harper et al. promised to "Stand Up For Canada" if they were elected. Apparently that meant standing up for small agricultural cartels. At least, that is the policy Harper has taken in the latest attempts to revive the Doha round at the WTO. Jeffrey Simpson has a good artice. This should be a no brainer. Millions of Canadians would benefit from the removal of these tarrifs. A few thousand Canadians benefit from their maintenance. To be fair, this is an issue that no political party in this country seems to be willing to adress. Politicians and the media in this country and most of the West (I mean the developed world not Alberta here) treat farming as a sacred cow (no pun intended). With grocery bills skyrocketing it is time to stop the squeeze on the Canadian family. Bring down these tariffs Mr. Harper. Canadian farmers can compete in certain areas. We aren't talking about the end of Canadian agriculture here. Dairy just isn't our most competitive industry right now. Heck, our dairy industry might become competitive if it actually had to compete. Mr. Harper, you claim to believe in the free market, let it reign on Canada's farms.
Update: The talks have collapsed again! We should still be lowering tariffs.
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Dion and Lizzie May should be popping champagne big time for this.
Now he can talk about carbon tariffs increasing foreign aid etc as a means to counter Harper.
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