Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Stephen Harper heads to rub elbows, twist arms at Davos forum

OTTAWA—Call it the big hug.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is launching a major trade charm offensive this week at Davos, Switzerland in a bid to woo Asian and European trade partners after a stinging rebuff from the U.S. on oil exports.

Although Ottawa announced good news Monday with the extension to 2015 of a softwood lumber deal with the United States, Harper is still smarting from the Obama administration’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline that would have shipped Alberta tar sands crude oil south to U.S. Gulf refineries and markets.

A rerouted pipeline application could still win approval next year. But Harper’s government is not waiting around.

He will renew a push to enter talks the Americans are also in with Asia-Pacific countries to negotiate a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, and to nail down a Canada-European free trade deal, now in its final stages.

Harper will deliver a keynote address Thursday to the influential gathering known as the World Economic Forum. But the real schmoozing happens when the Conservative government leader, along with his foreign affairs, finance and international trade ministers, makes a big pitch in private meetings with other government leaders on the sidelines at the Swiss gabfest.

Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall said diversification of trade, especially in the energy sector, is crucial at this time for job creation and economic growth in Canada.

“It’s important for us, now that a road has been blocked in the States, that there are other markets for us to proceed with.”

The Harper government has moved to boost trade with Columbia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jordan and Panama, as well as with other South American and South East Asian markets.

But it’s clear Harper intends to intensify trade efforts with bigger emerging economies where the payoffs for Canadian business and jobs will be bigger.

“We’ll always seek to bend someone’s ear about deals that we think are in Canada’s interest, like the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership),” MacDougall told reporters at a briefing with senior government officials in advance of this week’s meetings in Davos.

“I think the message is Canada is looking to enter into new deals and new arrangements.”

At the same time, MacDougall brushed aside Republican presidential nomination candidate Newt Gingrich’s assertion that Obama’s delayed decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline effectively killed the project.

And MacDougall declined to comment on an American congressional research office report that suggested the decision to grant a cross-border pipeline permit could also be constitutional without approval from the executive branch.

“It’s a decision for President Obama,” he said. “We continue to support the project as one that will create jobs and growth on both sides of the border. It will help a trusted ally meet a key need on the energy front.”

MacDougall recalled that Obama stressed to Harper last week the project was not rejected “on its merits” and given that Calgary-based Trans-Canada intends to reapply, “We remain hopeful that we will see some progress here.”

Asked about Gingrich’s charge that Obama’s pipeline decision had pushed Canada into the arms of energy-hungry China, MacDougall said: “There’s no shortage of demand for energy around the world. There’s a shortage on our ability to get those resources out of Canada, so that’s where the government’s focus is. We’ve been clear with all leaders that we talk to that Canada is looking to diversify its markets to sell more energy abroad.”

In addition to an upcoming trip next month to China where trade will top the agenda, Harper is likely to travel to Thailand, Taiwan and possibly India later in the year in his bid to secure new markets, though no visits have yet been announced.

MacDougall stressed Harper’s aim this week is “broader” than the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “This is global trade in general.”

In an important change in international policy, the Conservative government announced late last year that it wants to take part in the TPP, which would lower trade barriers among an economically powerful group of regional nations including Australia, the U.S., Chile, New Zealand, Malaysia, Vietnam and possibly Japan.

Meanwhile, International Trade Minister Ed Fast said Monday that negotiations with the European Union on a free-trade deal are in the final stages. “The negotiations are essentially at a point where we have completed nine full rounds. We don’t expect there will be any additional rounds.”

“Certainly in Canada, I can’t emphasize enough how important this agreement is to our long-term prosperity as a country,” he stated, adding that broadening trade with Europe could increase economic activity in Canada by $12 billion a year and create 80,000 Canadian jobs.

MacDougall said the government is approaching the World Economic Forum in Davos as “a great spot to get a temperature check on the global economy.”

To that end, the Prime Minister will participate in two separate round-table meetings with international business leaders, and with Canadian business leaders who are doing business in emerging markets to see “what their experiences have been.”

“We are firm believers in the markets and we know that ultimately prosperity through capitalism in the markets is ultimately what pays for all the things that we enjoy here in Canada, like a strong public health care system, like our social programs.”

In advance of Davos, Fast was in Washington on Monday to announce the two-year extension of the 2006 deal that ended the long-running cross-border dispute over softwood lumber.

The 2006 agreement revoked U.S. countervailing measures brought against Canadian softwood exporters and saw more than $5 billion in tariffs collected by the U.S government handed back to Canadian companies. However, the deal included a provision to invoke new charges on Canadian lumber being imported into the U.S. if the lumber price there dropped below a set level.

Original Article
Source: Star 
Author: Tonda MacCharles, Les Whittington 

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