Now It's NAFTA

You just know that more is coming. You can just feel it. What other big surprises does the Bridge Company have?

Why didn't Stephen call me? He should have listened to me. Now he is in a big pickle. NAFTA is in play as part of the dispute between the Bridge Company and Canada. Here is a copy of that document for you to read. http://www.scribd.com/doc/28979255/NAFTAclaim

Why oh why? His people must have anticipated this response from the Bridge Company.

Prime Minister Harper will cost the Canadian economy dearly. The anti-NAFTA legislation introduced in Congress is much more serious than Canada seems to understand

Such naïveté

• "International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan said Tuesday that the groundswell of protectionism among some U.S. lawmakers is directed less at Canada than at Mexico, as well as overseas markets.
  
  "I've been down there with the prime minister, meeting with President Obama. I met with congressional and Senate leaders and others that are key on trade files there, and what you get told again and again is, ‘Well, none of this is directed at Canada,'" Van Loan told CTV's Power Play.
  
  "And there are understandable anxieties, concerns about loss of manufacturing to China, some concerns about the relationship with Mexico, (but) Canada always seems to be sort of the favourite son. Nobody looks at us as a bad guy."

Mind you, this is the same Mr. Optimistic guy who said a while ago in his old job:

• “Canada-U.S. border review worries overblown: Minister
  
  Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan on Monday said he's convinced early worries that the new Obama administration might impose new security measures at the Canada-U.S. border have been overblown.
  
  At the start of a three-day visit to Washington, Van Loan said he's satisfied that a U.S. review of its northern border — ordered in January by Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security secretary — was simply a matter-of-course exercise by the department's new head to become familiar with her portfolio.
  
  "What I thought was very positive about that is that she recognized that the northern border is very different (from the U.S.-Mexico border), that we have a very different situation," Van Loan said in an interview. "She does view us in a very different light . . . She very much understands the objective here is achieving security while facilitating trade."

Where does this guy hang out? Didn't he read this:

• "Representatives Gene Taylor, Walter Jones, Peter DeFazio, Bart Stupak, Michael Arcuri, Joe Baca, Roscoe Bartlett, Bruce Braley, Michael Capuano, Jerry Costello, Bob Filner, Raul Grijalva, Phil Hare, Maurice Hinchey, Steve Kagen, Marcy Kaptur, Dale Kildee, Larry Kissell, Dennis Kucinich, Mike McIntyreEric Massa, Mike Michaud, and Ron Paul, Mark Schauer, Peter Visclosky, Charlie Wilson and Lynn Woolsey introduced legislation to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
  
  NAFTA and similar free trade agreements have resulted in a 29% decline in U.S. manufacturing employment since 1993. NAFTA discourages investments in U.S. manufacturing facilities and accelerates the erosion of our industrial base...
  
  Our trade deficit with Canada in 1993 was $11 Billion prior to NAFTA. By 2008 the trade deficit swelled to $78 billion and dropped to $20 Billion with the decline of the economy in 2009."

In case the name "Bart Stupak" is also unknown to the Minister, he was a key Democrat whom President Obama had to convince to help him on health care and who supported the President in the end on abortion protection. Obama owes him!

And we know that the Unions that helped make Obama President are not too happy with NAFTA either.

It cannot get worse for Stephen. And Canada!