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Posted November 2, 2018

Free Trade is Expensive

Currently USMCA formerly NAFTA – Starring Chrystia Freeland, Superstar

She figures in all her glory on the cover of the November 2018 Macleans. She also has five pages inside the mag with more pictures of her. Chrystia Freeland, Superstar.

At first glance the cover picture reminded me of Maria Callas at La Scala, immediately after finishing Norma, looking at the crowded theater, her facial expression clearly showing her expectation of adoration. Maria would always get it, Chrystia may not.

A caption for the photo sits to the left of Chrystia’s head, in eye-catching yellow letters measuring 17 mm, on three lines spanning the height from Chrystia’ eyes to her chin.

“YOU’RE WELCOME, CANADA”, the caption reads. I take it being Chrystia’s answer to the Nation’s applause in appreciation for of her saving the Nation. Read on, the text of the sidebar is gloriously ridiculous ...

“Like it or not, Chrystia Freeland just saved the country from economic catastrophe. How she did it–and what comes next for Ottawa’s newest political superstar. P24 – BY JOHN GEDDES” (CAPS and Bolds original).

Impressive? While I appreciate a picture being untold words, I am not iconolatry inclined. And I canot hide my aversion to “saviours” (other than Police D, FireD and Coast Guard). I abhor saviours, really – I was born like that.

The cover entry introduces a five page spread about her. I read them and finished empty handed of what I was looking for. I found no comparison, no side-by-side listing of what Chrystia gave to Trump and what she got from him for us.

Could it be that the cleverly “leaked” out story about Chrystia celebrating trampling Trump by rolling herself on the floor of the Prime Minister’s office, was a skit meant to erase the trace of what she gave away? Soldiers and others believe that the best defense is an attack and it is quite likely that Chrystia, (and Justin I should add), having given the store away to Trump and anxious to hide that, choreographed that horizontal axis pirouette, as a fake victory celebration to prevent embarrassing questions? Who knows? Neither of them are known to be humble, both are boastful characters. Then why do they not show us what they brought us from TrumpLand?

Lawyers habitually comfort their clients by reminding them that the verdict could have been worse – which is telling the “truth” in one sense, because no matter how bad it is, it could always be worse. Chrystia brags about retaining for Canada some of what Trump wanted for the USA. But no negotiator would proceed without loading “disposables” into a “negotiating” position, to later allay optics of “uncompromising” and manifest fair disposition.

That Chrystia did such a fantastic negotiating job for us in taking us from NAFTA to USNCA, her heroic standing up to Trump and the diabolic strategies she came up with to trip up her adversaries, fill the five pages of MacLeans leaving no room for a table showing what she got for us and what she gave away in exchange.

Even the triumphant sidebar on the cover of MacLeans does not mention any gain Chrystia wrangled from the Yankees. Chrystia’s rendition of the Trade Battle, is a mantra of saving Canada and sparing us the fate of becoming the Greece of the Americas.

But I have heard the cries of farmers and the steel sector. And I read in the October 20, 2018 Times -Colonist, coming some three weeks after Chrystia inked the USNCA, the following headline: “U.S. giant gets first shot at massive warship deal – Lockheed Martin in talks to design 15 new ships worth $60 billion”, bylined Lee Berthiaum/The Canadian Press. This is buying gunboats for Canada, with which to keep the Yankees south of the border, if the need ever arises, I presume. To pay the $60 billion the government will heist some $2,000 from the pocket of each Canadian and dump it in Trumpland.

Some four weeks after Chrystia saved Canada, another T-C headline shook my faith in Chrystia’s and Justin’s triumphant duet. Here is the T-C October 23 headline: “Feds write off $6.3 billion in loans – That includes $2.6 billion to Chrysler”, bylined The Canadian Press.

This “trade”, coming in the wake of Justin and Chrystia paying out $4.5 billion for a rusty US pipeline, are inducive to suspicion. So much so that I put on hold emailing the Queen my recommendation to decorate Chrystia with the Victoria Cross and I am considering recommending her instead, to the GG for the prize for fiction.

Tom V.