Nafta's Affect On Canadian Economy
Nafta's Affect On Canadian Economy
The purpose of this paper is to explore why NAFTA makes it easier than ever before for the U.S government and large American corporations to exploit the Canadian economy, its citizens, and its natural resources. This is the case even though the economic situation in Canada is presently more robust than the U.S economy. The U.S is using up Canada’s natural resources and Canadians must let the government know how most of the population feels.
NAFTA, which was implemented Jan 1, 1994, has become more of a burden to the Canadian economy and citizens than previously thought. Clearly, from the statistics described further on in this paper, many Canadians are experiencing negative emotions towards the so-called “free trade” agreement, which is ending rules to protect the public and our natural resources. This is a realistic, yet tragic example of the accumulation of profits of international corporations at the expense of the lives and livelihood of Canadian citizens. Deregulation means ending the rules that protect Canadian society from U.S economic domination. The NAFTA agreements are the cause of these deregulations and the loss of economic and environmental protections. Propriety of the environment has been a major part of Canadian social ethic for the past decade. For those who think it is possible to still protect the environment under NAFTA, ask the farmers or the logging industry who are having difficulty making ends meet. Canada has environmental agreements under NAFTA, which are of no benefit to farmers, particularly, within Saskatchewan, where upwards of 60% total exports to the U.S involve wheat. The U.S industry seems to be so absorbed in the “bottom line” and attraction to large investors, that they don’t care about the producers behind their profits. All NAFTA does is allow the U.S to attain Canadian goods at a very cheap price and then set tariffs on our softwood lumber and wholesale grain prices. The motivation appears to be one of greed.
The United States government, operating under the Bush Administration, appears to give no thought to enhancing its relationship with Canada and statistics show that Canadians are not happy about it. In March 2001, the Canadian government contracted EKOS Research Associates Inc. to elicit responses from Canadians. Some of the results EKOS from these responses were rather alarming. EKOS interviewed 1200 Canadians and asked them some important questions regarding our economy. When asked if Canadians felt their...