Re: Mulcair attack ads make mockery of serious issues (Letters, July 20)
Jim Geiwitz complains the attack ads on Mr. Mulcair trivialize serious problems related to “the Dutch disease,” free-trade agreements, and the carbon tax. However the subjects are not treated correctly in his letter.
The “Dutch disease” refers to countries whose manufactured goods cannot be exported because the value of the currency has been inflated by the export of raw natural resources. This is not the case in Canada. The hollowing out of manufacturing in Eastern Canada is due to tariffs imposed by other nations to protect their industry. The way to cure this is to negotiate free-trade agreements so that our manufacturers can go out and compete freely for their shares of world markets.
Nowhere is this better illustrated than by lumber industry’s recently concluded free-trade agreement with the U.S. It will mean the revitalization of B.C.’s lumber industry, and everyone in the B.C.’s Interior is celebrating it. If Mr. Mulcair actually wants to shut down free-trade agreements, it will not be good for Canadian manufacturing.
Carbon taxes are a burden on industry that inhibits its ability to compete with the rest of the world. Practically no one today believes in global warming and there is certainly no evidence to suggest carbon dioxide has any effect on global temperatures. Therefore to place this burden on our industry for no practical purpose is not a good thing to do.
Fred Langford
Sidney