I have a lot to say about this G7 summit but have no time to work it all out at the moment.
Just quick thoughts:
1) It's cute how France is leading a rebellion as if they matter. Love the G6 bit. Good one guys. /flicks France's ear.
2) OT: France and the UK are no longer powers and shouldn't have a Permanent seat at the UN.
3) I see where Trump is coming from. The whole network and system is built and predicated on America propping up the G7. The United States military budget is what it is, in part, because it has to defend their sorry asses.
4) He has a point about Canada's excessive dairy tariffs. The dairy industry is waaaayyy too strong here. So much so it bamboozles Canadians into thinking we have the 'best quality' milk with no hormones. It's actually anti-free trade and benefits exclusively one province: Quebec. Why should Canada keep this charade up for this industry and for one province? Does it make sense to you one of Canada's wealthiest family - Saputo - is a dairy producer? Can it be it benefitted a tad too much from the tariffs? No wonder they're the richest in Quebec. That's a lotta mozzarella. To be honest, I always by other brands just out of principle.
I want to support Canada on this but it's not tenable. It's a cartel and we're in the wrong.
The truth? The United States has consistently been the freest economy in the world that Canada and EU disproportionally benefitted from. It's the same with China. The USA is the engine of global prosperity. Not France. Not China. Not anyone.
And Trump knows this.
I hate these lousy multi-lateral; multi-year deals that get administered by some unaccountable bureaucracy. Canada and the USA should make real head to head deals. I'm pretty sure Canada's 'free trade' deal with the EU comes with all sorts of EU rules we have to adhere to. And in case you haven't noticed through all those stupid emails about privacy and cookies because of EU regulations, they can make things very Byzantine. Forget the EU. Our economy is set up as one to be an appendage to the United States. Our elites chose this a long time ago and there's not a whole lot we ca do about it now. Switching over to the EU in an attempt to 'diversify' changes nothing except the language.
We need to be very realistic lest we lose some access to American products.
In a way, Trump is doing us a favor if it finally rids of our monopolistic economic landscape. We don't have a free market. We have a market owned by certain companies who divide it up amongst each other. From telecom to the CRTC to dairy to banking.
Worse, Canadians have been conditioned to believe this is how it's done and it's the 'best way.'
Time for Canadians to wake and grow up.
5) However, his complete dismissal and lack of respect of the special bond and trade intricacies between Canada and the USA is a bit much. Heck, he's even making me agree with Justin and his loose eyebrow on this. I swear, if Trump inadvertently gets Trudeau elected, I'm never going to forgive him. There's already some 'stand behind Trudeau' stances out there.
6) Still, Canada should tread carefully. Our interests still rely and lie with the USA; not the EU. Just a fact and reality. Besides, I wouldn't trust France and the EU with a 20-foot pole. Just hash it out with the Americans one on one.
7) Timing is everything. Canadians voted 'for change' when they gave Trudeau a majority government. It was a remarkably stupid thing to do in my view but this is what the country selected. And now we're learning elections have consequences in Canada too. One has to wonder if things would have been handled differently under a much more experienced Harper.
Trump is not bluffing and Trudeau better think twice about trying to play tough guy behind Trump's back.
Canadians are finding out in the flesh, once they let their nationalist emotions go, Canada doesn't have a whole lot of leverage given it's a semi-diversified, branch plant economy. We also chose to off load our defence capabilities onto - wink - the United States. The question should always have been among our diplomats and so-called brain trust: What if one day an American president pulls the plug? Makes noise about the arrangement? Are we prepared? Did we take full advantage of our deals with the U.S.? It doesn't look or sound like it.
We made our bed. We get preferential treatment from the United States. We piggy back off their prosperity. We don't contribute to military defences to the extent we should. And the Americans tolerate it. Maybe because they bought into the special relationship bond. Canadians take it for granted.
We must lie in this bed.
Just quick thoughts:
1) It's cute how France is leading a rebellion as if they matter. Love the G6 bit. Good one guys. /flicks France's ear.
2) OT: France and the UK are no longer powers and shouldn't have a Permanent seat at the UN.
3) I see where Trump is coming from. The whole network and system is built and predicated on America propping up the G7. The United States military budget is what it is, in part, because it has to defend their sorry asses.
4) He has a point about Canada's excessive dairy tariffs. The dairy industry is waaaayyy too strong here. So much so it bamboozles Canadians into thinking we have the 'best quality' milk with no hormones. It's actually anti-free trade and benefits exclusively one province: Quebec. Why should Canada keep this charade up for this industry and for one province? Does it make sense to you one of Canada's wealthiest family - Saputo - is a dairy producer? Can it be it benefitted a tad too much from the tariffs? No wonder they're the richest in Quebec. That's a lotta mozzarella. To be honest, I always by other brands just out of principle.
I want to support Canada on this but it's not tenable. It's a cartel and we're in the wrong.
The truth? The United States has consistently been the freest economy in the world that Canada and EU disproportionally benefitted from. It's the same with China. The USA is the engine of global prosperity. Not France. Not China. Not anyone.
And Trump knows this.
I hate these lousy multi-lateral; multi-year deals that get administered by some unaccountable bureaucracy. Canada and the USA should make real head to head deals. I'm pretty sure Canada's 'free trade' deal with the EU comes with all sorts of EU rules we have to adhere to. And in case you haven't noticed through all those stupid emails about privacy and cookies because of EU regulations, they can make things very Byzantine. Forget the EU. Our economy is set up as one to be an appendage to the United States. Our elites chose this a long time ago and there's not a whole lot we ca do about it now. Switching over to the EU in an attempt to 'diversify' changes nothing except the language.
We need to be very realistic lest we lose some access to American products.
In a way, Trump is doing us a favor if it finally rids of our monopolistic economic landscape. We don't have a free market. We have a market owned by certain companies who divide it up amongst each other. From telecom to the CRTC to dairy to banking.
Worse, Canadians have been conditioned to believe this is how it's done and it's the 'best way.'
Time for Canadians to wake and grow up.
5) However, his complete dismissal and lack of respect of the special bond and trade intricacies between Canada and the USA is a bit much. Heck, he's even making me agree with Justin and his loose eyebrow on this. I swear, if Trump inadvertently gets Trudeau elected, I'm never going to forgive him. There's already some 'stand behind Trudeau' stances out there.
6) Still, Canada should tread carefully. Our interests still rely and lie with the USA; not the EU. Just a fact and reality. Besides, I wouldn't trust France and the EU with a 20-foot pole. Just hash it out with the Americans one on one.
7) Timing is everything. Canadians voted 'for change' when they gave Trudeau a majority government. It was a remarkably stupid thing to do in my view but this is what the country selected. And now we're learning elections have consequences in Canada too. One has to wonder if things would have been handled differently under a much more experienced Harper.
Trump is not bluffing and Trudeau better think twice about trying to play tough guy behind Trump's back.
Canadians are finding out in the flesh, once they let their nationalist emotions go, Canada doesn't have a whole lot of leverage given it's a semi-diversified, branch plant economy. We also chose to off load our defence capabilities onto - wink - the United States. The question should always have been among our diplomats and so-called brain trust: What if one day an American president pulls the plug? Makes noise about the arrangement? Are we prepared? Did we take full advantage of our deals with the U.S.? It doesn't look or sound like it.
We made our bed. We get preferential treatment from the United States. We piggy back off their prosperity. We don't contribute to military defences to the extent we should. And the Americans tolerate it. Maybe because they bought into the special relationship bond. Canadians take it for granted.
We must lie in this bed.
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