Photo from www.draplin.com

Seemingly lost amidst the Olympic shuffle last week was an announcement by the Harper government on reaching an agreement with the United States that allowed for Canadian exceptions to the highly contentious “Buy American” regulations. The regulations, imposed last-year by the U.S. government, blocked Canadian manufacturers from bidding on almost $800-billion worth of contracts tied to stimulus spending by the U.S. government.

Given the high-profile nature of the spat and the political capital such an agreement should generate, it seems strange that the Harper government would downplay the announcement by burying it amidst Olympic fever. A closer look at the details of the agreement, however, indicate why this might be the case.
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Oil has been discovered in the waters around the Falklands. This has revived the decades-old conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom, both of which claim the islands – and this time the rest of Latin America is united behind Argentina. Will we see the developed world unite behind England?

Given the realities of peak oil, finding more is a good thing. However, as oil becomes more and more precious as the supply dwindles – and as foolish Western governments have failed to prepare for – the potential for conflict becomes very high indeed. The United States has a massive military presence in the Middle East to protect its “national interests” there, and the United Kingdom is likely to take the same view of any oil discovered anywhere they can make any sort of claim to.
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Photo Credit: The Truth Project

The concept of a North American Union in many incarnations has been discussed in academic, social and political circles for several decades. Former Mexican President Vincente Fox was enthusiastic about the idea, but at the time members of US government busied themselves writing resolutions, speeches and blogs in opposition to the whole idea. Canadian leaders have kept pretty much mum on the subject, doing little more than denying that a secret NAU plan is in the works.

Apparently I am in the minority in suggesting that a Union between our countries would be mutually beneficial socially, economically and in the ever important realm of national security. There has been a lot of opposition to the idea on harried blog sites that produce posts on the alleged clandestine NAU meetings and operations.

Like the widespread fear of globalization, I believe that the concerns can and would be allayed only if we could trust our leaders to handle the creation and transition with care, diplomacy and even-minded thinking. Unfortunately these are not things that politicians are known for. I assert that a very carefully and justly handled North American Union would be greatly beneficial for every North American country.
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Remember when you used to trade marbles? Or baseball cards? Or whatever else you had that someone else saw value in.

How about carbon credits?

Bartering is still going on between countries though you don’t hear much about it. Probably because it falls outside the realm of the global financial order i.e. the IMF, OPEC, and other oligopolies and their various taxing authorities. They probably would not be amused at the growth of the bartering concept.

Recently I was speaking to some college students. We were talking about global bartering as a possible solution to unlocking the stuck banking system that is fueling the recession. After all, a small business can barter just about any product or service on the internet now. Why not countries?
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Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Jon, and I’ve lived in the heart of Canadian politics – Ottawa – for each of my 22 years. This is my first foray into the blogosphere, and I have been critical of it in the past. The main issue I had with bloggers is that many tend to hide behind the anonymity and security of their online personae. The distance created between the blogger and his/her audience by the internet allows the blogger to say things that she/he would not say if standing face-to-face with another person. So, I make a promise to you, my reader. Every word that you read in this, and any future postings I make, are words that I would be proud to speak, no matter the situation. And with the preamble now out of the way, let me tell you how Barack Obama will change the world.
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The Detroit News reports that President Bush has announced Friday morning a $13.4 billion bailout for General Motors and Chrysler.

The structure of the bailout is different from that of the financial sector’s recent $700 billion bailout, in that it is in the form of a short-term loan, with apparent strict conditions. 

The 3-year loan calls for another $4 billion in February, bringing the total to $17.3 billion.
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For those who didn’t know, on Sunday, November 23, 2008, every single person in the US got a free Dr. Pepper. The soft drink company promised a free can to every citizen if Gun ‘N’ Roses released their album in 2008.

What does this have to do with politics?
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On November 22nd, APEC leaders vowed not to raise trade barriers over the next 12 months to the delight of PM Steven Harper. For the past few weeks, Harper has been discussing the issue with world leaders in an effort to keep free trade alive during the economic downturn. He’s also managed to sign a free trade agreement with Colombia just this week. Harper maintains the leading cause of the Great Depression was a result of bad decisions made by policy-makers, one of which was shutting down borders to trade in order to protect domestic jobs.

So how will the Obama administration react when in takes office in under 2 months time? It’s no secret that throughout the 2008 election campaign, Obama promised to restrict free trade agreements which he blames for the loss of US jobs due to outsourcing. He also mentioned renegotiating major trade agreements such as NAFTA. At the same time, currently serving President Bush advocates the exact opposite – keep borders open and allow free trade to continue.
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The Big Three

Just a month and a half after the financial sector in the United States received a $700 billion bailout package, the U.S. auto industry is begging for it to be their turn. U.S. auto executives are seeking $25 billion to save an industry on the brink of collapse. And Canada wants in. Industry Minister Tony Clement will be traveling to the United States to try and set the framework for a joint deal. But is another bailout plan using taxpayer’s money really justified? I’m not fully convinced.

There’s a lot of data that seems to indicate a bailout plan for the automotive industry is an absolute necessity. GM, Chrysler and Ford employ nearly 250,000 people in the United States, and affect nearly 4 million other jobs including suppliers, dealers and rental companies. Up to 70,000 of these people are Canadians, as automobile parts often cross back and forth through our border up to 7 times prior being installed into a vehicle. A filing for bankruptcy by any one of the Big Three could have catastrophic consequences for our already fragile economy. These facts seem to suggest that a bailout of the industry is crucial and an absolute must.
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