Stronach Calls on Government to Get on the Job in the United States

[Lincoln]

Stronach Calls on Government to Get on the Job in the United States
For immediate release: Friday, October 29, 2004


Ottawa --- Belinda Stronach, Member of Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora and International and Trade Critic of the Official Opposition, today called on the Liberal Government to set the right spending priorities and expend the necessary political capital to promote and protect Canadian economic interests in the United States.

Speaking last evening in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Stronach said that the truth behind our well-known trade disputes with the United States was corrosion of the political relationship with the United States on the Liberal watch. The country cannot afford more mismanagement in this key customer relationship.

“There should be as a rule, at minimum, one minister in the United States each and every working day of each week of the year, on a planned duty roster fighting for Canada,” said Stronach. “We need to expend political capital in the United States by making more Cabinet ministers visit the country more often, to establish relationships with free trading legislators, state governors and politicians.”

“It is not satisfactory for ministers to show up once a year in Washington for a photo op with a Cabinet Secretary. We need to bring out the cavalry to sell the powerful story of Canada south of the border,” said Stronach.  “Canadian cattlemen, farmers, lumbermen, truckers, and every exporter who must ship across the border - all hurting from border issues - would demand no less. The stakes are huge.”

Stronach emphasized that the relationship with the United States needs systematic, tactical and careful tending, and that the cost of a systematic plan to do this would be modest compared to the obscene amounts of taxpayer money wasted, for example, in the HRDC grant fiasco, the sad gun registry and de facto gifts to Liberal connected advertising firms.

“If the Liberal Government did its real job, the help offered to hardworking Canadians affected by the trade disputes would have been great,” said Stronach.

[Suga Foot]

seems like she's just stirring up shit, because she knows with the US election coming, the Liberals can't do anything until everything is settled in the US.  Canadian/US relations were great with Chretien and Clinton.  But Bush really doesn't give a fuck about Canada.  I think with a Kerry/Harper combo, our relations with the US would be a lot better.  But with Bush not giving a fuck about us (lets face it, he's got bigger problems to deal with), and Martin being so stubborn, not much is gonna change.

[King Tech Quadafi]

Belinda Stronachs opinions are worth shit.