Canadians were DUPED!
We were led to believe that the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were "free trade" agreements. They were not! They were primarily investment agreements. The Americans wanted "free access" to our industries, and our resources including our oil and gas and, soon, our water. Of course, the FTA reduced tariffs over a period of ten years but this was happening anyway under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In fact, we gave up more than we gained on tariff reductions. But that is nothing compared to what we lost on the investment front. The Americans wanted to buy us out for 65 cents on the dollar. And they are!!
The day the FTA was signed on October 3, 1987, U.S. trade representative Clayton Yeutter, let slip this observation. "We've signed a stunning new trade pact with Canada. The Canadians don't understand what they've signed. In twenty years, they will be sucked into the U.S. economy.
Yeutter was telling the truth! But our political leaders have never told us the truth. They still pretend that the two fatal agreements are about trade. They still won't admit that the two agreements are licences to buy Canada lock, stock and barrel.
When Ronald Reagan signed the Free Trade Agreement, he accomplished what American generals and American armies were unable to do in 1776 and again in 1812-14 - he conquered Canada. Unless we get out of NAFTA, occupation will become permanent and and annexation will become inevitable.
Lets face it --the Liberals have been staunch defenders of the policies of Brian Mulroney, the American "mole" who sold Canada down the river. When the former prime minister told us at the time the FTA was signed that "Canada is open for business again," he should have been honest with us and aid: "Canada is now up for sale to the highest bidder." We are not anti-American - we are pro-Canadian. We think it is best for Canada, the U.S. and the world if each country retains its identity and its sovereignty.
Since the FTA was signed, about 13,000 Canadian companies have been sold to foreigners - about 10,000 to Americans. These include the forest giant MacMillan Bloedel, Le Groupe Forex, Club Monaco, Tim Hortons, Laura Secord and the list goes on and on. Needless to say, when ownership leaves the country the best decision-making jobs leave with them - a major contributor to the brain drain.
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that it's only a matter of time until Air Canada will be bought by an American airline; Shaw and Rogers cable companies will go to U.S. interests; Bell Canada, with CTV in tow, will be bought by AT&T; and all of the Canadian banks, whether merged or not, will be controlled by international banks such as Citibank and Chase Manhattan.
I gues I better get out my travel brochures and find a new place to live because, I do not wish to live under a dictatorship in Canada...oppps! sorry. I meant AMERI-CANADA