Dear Editor,
The current situation with our neighbor to the south is causing great suffering for us here in British Columbia, ie. the softwood lumber tariffs that have been placed on us by Trump.
I’m struggling with our prime minister’s approach to dealing with the U.S. president and his narcissistic behaviours regarding his power mongering on us and our country.
I study history and in particular the relationship between various countries around the globe.
For instance; when Neville Chamberlain visited Hitler prior to the Second World War, he was impressed and moved by what Hitler was doing. In essence he was bewitched and deceived by a psychopathic dictator who was able to exert his complete control over others, and we’re experiencing the same type of control over our nation’s interests and economy right now.
I realize that we’ve been too dependent on the U.S. for our trade and economy for the past decades, but the world is changing and so must we realign ourselves with new trading partners to better position our countries’ economies.
Eurasia is the new emerging world economy, and we’d better start improving our relations with countries in that part of the world.
That includes China and India, which have the world’s largest populations and therefore markets to advance our trade relations with.
I tried to explain this to Chrystia Freeland when she was the foreign affairs minister years back, but to no avail.
Well, look where we are today with our prime minister grovelling at the feet of the U.S. president.
Is Canada a sovereign nation or not? Then why are we not “standing strong,” for our country?
Yes, I understand that China presents certain challenges with our relationship with them, re: their human rights record. But, this did not stop us from trading in military arms with Saudi Arabia, when we could make a buck. And, it didn’t stop Former PM Harper from approving the sale of one of our BC mines to China a few years back.
So, when it comes to monetary issues; we’ve compromised our principles a little and bent over to make some cash for our industries and economies. We’re going to have to do the same now in the newly emerging world economies. And, yes that means trading more with China or India, who at times may piss us off.
As the old Chinese proverb goes, “the bamboo bends with the wind, but always returns back to its original stance!”
We may have to do some bending in these current turbulent times with our trade and economies.
Compromise has always been part and parcel of politics!
John E. McKenzie, Maple Ridge