If Stephen Harper was the only source from which Canadians got their news, he’d have everybody believe that the only threat to Canada’s sovereignty is in the Arctic. In reality, far more pressing questions of sovereignty face the average Canadian and the Harper Conservatives seems more than content to sit on the sidelines while our political and economic sovereignty is sold off to the highest bidder.
Free-trade, Secrecy, and the Tory/Grit Coalition
Canadians would have had to be paying close attention in 2010 when the two major political parties came together to craft a free-trade agreement with Columbia - a country which boasts a horrific human rights record. Free-trade agreements give foreign countries access to our domestic markets and essentially amount to a trade off of sovereignty between the countries involved. In this case, Canada’s political and economic elite rewarded Columbia for their human rights abuses with access to our markets, a move that will most certainly harm Canada’s reputation as a promoter of human rights.
When the government did allow debate on the trade agreement, Liberal and Conservative MPs literally sat in silence while the Bloc and the NDP asked questions for which they received no answers. This trade deal was swept under the rug without any national dialogue or discussion, and when that happens there’s usually something fishy going on.
Sovereignty and Globalization
One major consequence of globalization has been the integration of the world’s economy, which has been a driving force behind economic reforms that many countries are currently undergoing. Most recently, Canadians saw the attempted takeover of Potash Corp. in Saskatchewan, by the Australian company BHP, as a threat to our economic security. Although the federal government put a stop to the takeover bid, it was widely viewed as a political move to save seats in Saskatchewan, rather than an ideological one, says Mark Kennedy and Andrew Mayeda from Postmedia, on November 3, 2010.
The attempted takeover received some major national news coverage and, thanks in large part to Canadians becoming engaged, the government folded under the pressure. While the attempted takeover was foiled, Canadians have watched as countless other Canadian companies have been sold off or taken over by foreign companies. These takeovers usually result in massive layoffs, downsizing, and the dismantling of worker’s pensions and benefits right across the country which only hurt our economy and, in turn, our position on the world stage. Canadian sovereignty is weakened when the economy is owned and controlled by an increasing number of foreign companies and investors.
David vs. Goliath
With the globalization of the world’s economy comes the globalization of the world’s stock markets and Canada’s biggest stock market, the TSX, is set for what is being called a ‘merger’ with the London exchange. The word merger gives the impression of two equals coming together but in reality, David vs. Goliath might be more accurate description.
The takeover will mean the Canadian economy will be more susceptible to the debt crisis facing many European countries and their banking systems and could also result in high level, well paying jobs being exported to London. There are real, tangible reasons why Canada weathered the global economic downturn better than most industrialized countries and one major factor was the fact that Canadian banks were prevented from merging with each other and other large foreign banks, said the Calgary Herald on February 15, 2011.
This helped shelter Canada’s banking industry from the extremes of the global credit crunch and that’s why Canadians should be suspicious of such takeovers and mergers like the one between the TSX and LSX. The short term effects of such a takeover will mean a loss of sovereignty for Canada and the longer term consequences could be the next financial meltdown – and next time, Canada might not be so lucky. However, the most serious and imminent threats to Canadian sovereignty aren’t only coming from overseas. Our security-obsessed neighbours to the south have been pushing for a common continental security border which has been described as NAFTA on steroids - and it looks like they’re going to get what they want.
Common Continental Security Border
The security zealots that occupy many high level positions in the US government have negotiated a common security border deal with the Canadian government, the scope and breadth of which is staggering, including everything from immigration policy to labels on a box of cereal. Thomas Walkom, National Affairs columnist for the Toronto Star says in his article on February 5, 2011, Canada will agree to change its rules and regulations as well as share more private information about Canadians citizens with Washington.
Corporatism and Big Brother
This border agreement has the potential to be the biggest, one-time giveaway of sovereignty in Canada’s history – and it was all decided behind closed doors without any public debate. There were some folks who were lucky enough to have been privy to the discussions and they were Canada’s largest corporations, as represented by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. This border agreement could mean that the Canadian government would have to share information about its citizenry with the US, meaning sensitive information may wind up in the hands of unaccountable government officials in a foreign country.
Everybody has heard the horror stories of innocent people finding themselves on ‘No-fly’ lists as a potential security threat and incidents such as these are bound to become more frequent when the long arm of the paranoid, security-obsessed US government has more information to sift through. There is a long standing joke among Americans that Canada is just another US state. It seems every joke really does have an element of truth.
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