Harper on NAFTA

[dancing-loon]

Harper warns U.S. that Canada will bite back on NAFTA

NEW ORLEANS — Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a warning yesterday to future U.S. leaders wanting to renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement, saying Canada would drive a tougher bargain because of its position as America's biggest energy supplier. Mr. Harper made the comments at the end of a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, where the three leaders defended NAFTA against attacks from Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as they seek to become the presidential candidate for the Democratic party.

Asked whether it might not be a bad idea to rethink certain aspects of the deal, Mr. Harper said he was ready for any eventuality, but warned that Canada was in a stronger position than when the Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement was negotiated during the 1980s.
“We are a secure, stable [energy] supplier. That is of critical importance to the future of the United States,” Mr. Harper told reporters at the end of the North American leaders' summit known as the Three Amigos. “If we have to look at this kind of an option, I think, quite frankly, we'd be in an even stronger position now than we were 20 years ago, and we'll be in a stronger position in the future.”

Read all here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl..._gam_mostrecom
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That sounds positive!! So, if the NAFTA gets opened up then Canada should make sure we don't get the short end of the stick again. I don't know at the moment where we got the short end exactly, would have to read up on it. Perhaps one of you members has some grievances ready in the head. Post it, please.

 

[Avro]

Good for Harper, but he should have kept his mouth shut. Let the yanks walk right into that one......10$ a gallon anyone?

 

[NorthrnMystique]

make the americans grovel for every drip of petrol....

does good justice considering the apocalyptic level of cultural imperialism, economic dominance, and infringement of Canadian sovereignty that seems to be an American past-time.
:canada:

 

[#juan]

Harper is like a number of Conservatives. He talks tough for the media but I get the feeling he would like Canada tied tighter to the U.S. If he really cared about the country he would do something about that unholy, ecological mess the tar sands are turning into.

 

[MikeyDB]

The luster's gone from Haper's avowed commitment to "transparency" and "integrity" and once again dumb-as-post Canadians listen to this policy "red herring" being thrown out to appease the dumb-as-post's whining at the gas pumps. Harper and every Canadian Prime Minister and government as a whole have appeased American interests in Canada for a very long time (John Defenbakker). What will it take for dumb-as-poster's to begin to understand that their "vote" is a meaningless gesture intendent to placate the sentiment of "freedom" and "democracy" that all these dumb-as-poster's believe? Canadian domestic and foreign policy is shaped behind closed door meetings between the puppet regimes of Canadian and American "government" as instructed by the wealthy.

 

[Nuggler]

"""NEW ORLEANS — Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a warning yesterday to future U.S. leaders wanting to renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement, saying Canada would drive a tougher bargain"""

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:roll: When pigs poop pennies.

:disgust:

 

[MikeyDB]

It's a hoot isn't it Nugg!

After the trough-feeders in Ottawa have hung on the coatails of the American military for defense of Canada for decades...like my Jamacian friends say... "Dat dog don't haf no teeth"!

Some "bite" what would Canada do ...like the Vichy in France during WWII ...not giving the occupying forces a cherry "good-morning" is membership in the "resistance"...? What a yuck!

 

[Lester]

Harper is like a number of Conservatives. He talks tough for the media but I get the feeling he would like Canada tied tighter to the U.S. If he really cared about the country he would do something about that unholy, ecological mess the tar sands are turning into.

It really is a mess up there, but Syncrude just had one of their old mine sites certified as being fully restored, I give Syncrude credit for that. Howevere, I don't think some companies ie.. CNRL are as responsible as them.

 

[#juan]

It really is a mess up there, but Syncrude just had one of their old mine sites certified as being fully restored, I give Syncrude credit for that. However, I don't think some companies ie.. CNRL are as responsible as them.

The problem is that it used to be a forest. Since I doubt the forest is back, I wonder who did the certifying.. When I was up there, there was tar sand everywhere and it stank to high heaven. There used to be thirty or forty feet of clean dirt on top of the tar sand. Now there is just a tarry mess.

 

[dancing-loon]

Weren't we talking about NAFTA? I wonder for how much a barrel of tar sand oil from Alberta is sold? Am I right, we are selling to the US? Or rather a US oil company is extracting the oil?

Considering that Alberta Oil Sands is the Most Destructive Project on Earth, will the price reflect the clean-up cost? Do we get our share's worth out of it? Or will we Canadians, especially Albertans, be left with a deficit on top of a destroyed environment?

http://www.desmogblog.com/report-alb...oject-on-earth
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I know, big brother is oil hungry, therefore we should be dollar hungry. Actually, we should have never allowed the exploration.

 

[Tonington]

The price paid for the bitumen from the Athabascan sands depends where you sell it. They're now building some pipelines all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, because they can get better prices at the refineries in Texas and Louisiana than they can in the Chicago area, enough to warrant new pipelines.

 

[dancing-loon]

Thanks, Tonington, very helpful information. Why can't we refine it here in Canada?
All that oil from Iraq and Saudi, is it refined in the US?

If a barrel of crude oil costs $120... a barrel of refined oil would be about double that? What uses does crude oil have besides being refined into gasoline?

Sorry, I'm a little naive and out of my league actually.

 

[Tonington]

Refining a barrel of oil will yield all sorts of products. Here's a good tutorial.

 

[Lester]

The problem is that it used to be a forest. Since I doubt the forest is back, I wonder who did the certifying.. When I was up there, there was tar sand everywhere and it stank to high heaven. There used to be thirty or forty feet of clean dirt on top of the tar sand. Now there is just a tarry mess.

The Province actually certified it, it was on the news awhile back, It's not much but it's better than nothing. I've canoed down the athabasca(20 years ago) and the bitumen actually flows into the river.(naturally)

 

[#juan]

The Province actually certified it, it was on the news awhile back, It's not much but it's better than nothing. I've canoed down the athabasca(20 years ago) and the bitumen actually flows into the river.(naturally)

When I got there in 1965 they had paved some of the roads with the stuff. On a hot Summer day you could sink up to your ankles in it if you stood in one place too long.