Liberal Opposition to Lumber Deal No More Than Partisan Politics

So, the Liberals are going to vote against a softwood lumber deal that has the support of lumber producers and the non-Conservative governments of the three biggest lumber-producing provinces. Surprise, surprise.

Is it mere partisan politics or is it unrepentant contempt for the electorate? Well, lets look at the sloppy thinking at play.

First, Dominic LeBlanc, the Liberal International Trade Critic suggests that a special aid package be put together to help the lumber industry adjust to the fallout from the deal. Wait a minute, the government is to put a programme in place that essentially would indicate some short-coming in the deal. Nice try.

LeBlanc then goes on to say that getting anything less than all of the tariffs paid would be a failure. This thinking goes a long way to explaining why the Liberals couldn’t negotiate a resolution to anything with the Americans. Is it ideal? No. But in any negotiation there is give and take.

The impasse was costing Canada’s economy each and every day yet LeBlanc and Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale both said that Canada should have waited for legal procedures to conclude. But that assumes that Canada had a iron-clad case and the means to recoup all damages. That’s a dubious assumption.

The most contemptuous implication comes from Goodale when he tells us that “it is obvious the Harper government has played hardball with Canadian softwood producers to get their support for the deal”. This implies that no one in their right mind would agree with a Conservative or a Conservative government. It’s a cheap shot and sadly typical. Its also a classic example of a more insidious facet of Liberalism in Canada. Here we see ‘truth’ to a Liberal audience delivered with vacuous statements.

Its clear to me that the Liberal position is nothing more than partisan politics aimed at covering its inability to resolve this issue while they formed the government. They gave the Americans no respect while they were in government and reaped what they sewed. I’ll go further to say that perhaps if they had had a civil relationship with the United States, this whole mess may have been avoided.