Bob Hunter

© Strictly personal ®

I AM beginning to think there is more depth to this
Mulroney government than has been meeting the eye:

Whether it is depth in terms of
how high it *s piled or depth in
terms of an actual philosophy is
the question.

We see, unfolding before our
wondering eyes, a bizarre
hodge-podge of sweeping
policies. On the side of the
angels, there is the free trade deal
and a move toward a looser form
of federalism.

On the negative side, there is
mad talk of nuclear submarines.

It is a crazy quilt of political
initiatives, seemingly unrelated.

Or is it possible that Brian
Mulroney, staggering as the
thought may be, knows what he
is doing? That he has, as they
say, a secret agenda?

And could that secret agenda
be nothing less than rebuilding
Canada’s economy after the
American model?

I know it sounds too grand,
even conspiratorial, because we
have been used to thinking of
Brian as a small man. Shallow.

Supposing he’s not? Supposing
there lurks inside a take-charge,
hang-ihe-consequences kind of
guy, ready to change history?

It seems incredible, but he has,
in fact, staked out some quite
radical positions, not the least of
which is his apparent intention to
prime-pump the economy with
military spending.

Borrowing methods from the
Americans is nothing new, but
some choke on jt. Others, more
pragmatic, don’t.

With his particular
background, Mulroney is perfect
for the job.

. First, as a French-Canadian,

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he isn’t as paranoid about losing
his Canadian identity as
English-speaking Canadians tend
to be.

And second, having worked as
a lawyer for the dreaded Yanks,
he has a pretty good sense of
where the power lies.

I am beginning to suspect that
there may be some connections
between Mulroney's various
gambits.

The one that fascinates me the
most is, of course, the weird
decision not merely to purchase,
but to build nuclear subs.

That one didn’t surface, liter-
ally, until last year. It was never
mentioned during the election,
that’s for sure. '

The question is, why now? The
popularity of nuclear power is‘at
its lowest ebb ever. There are nu-
clear accidents happening all over
the world, from starving people
in Rio digging up discarded ra-

ing the Canadian economy with
America's?

A guy like Mulroney wouldn’t
have much trouble with an idea
like that. It has a kind of bot-
tom-line tangibility, Why not
copy what works? Corporations
do it. Why not countries?

Mulroney understands the
economies of scale, obviously
enough. Oi) for the lamps of
America!

And maybe he has the answer
to one of the criticisms of the
free trade pact, which is that Ca-
nadians. won't be playing on a
level field.

The American economy, rather
than being a raw Hong Kong-
style jaissez-faire capitalist en-
vironment, is in fact subsidized
enormously by its multi-billion-
dollar-a-year military industrial
complex, which is alive and well
as ever.

tis not exactly a miracle of
the invisible hand that the
American marketplace booms, It
is a matter of government pro-
curements for military hardware.
Certainly that’s what keeps the
( aero-space industry going.

Look how the ribs stick out of
Canada’s shipbuilding industry
since the Navy was allowed to
starve.

By getting into the heavy-duty
field of nuclear sub-
marine-building, Canada sets up
guaranteed ongoing government
funding for a lot of troubled
high-tech industries, far into the

dioactive wastes, to the Iranians “foreseeable future. Further, in

screaming that Iraq has bombed
their ‘“‘peaceful’’ reactor. /

Unless Mulroney is setting up a
straw’ man to be knocked down,

there must be some rationale.

behind the sub program. ,

Certainly, it will cost, us a lot
of credibility. i ‘

By. all accounts, Canada has
been earning undeserved brownie
points internationally’ for our
posturing in favor of disarma-
ment. Ye '

When we Start building our
own fleet'of nukes, our word at
disarmament forums will count
for zilch. :

Cag it possibly: be that the subs
fit in with the gcal of synchroniz-

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Does the next generation of
Canadians want to carry a fleet
of unbelievably expensive nuclear
submarines on their back so the
brass can hand ov.t parking tick-
ets in the Arctic?

As part of a master-plan to
mesh Canada’s economy with the
United States, setting up mat-
ching military industrial com-
plexes would only make sense.
Other industrial nations use their
defence establishments as balance
wheels in the economy. Objec-

tively speaking, why not Canada? .

Could Brian Mulroney be up ,
to something this awesome? I,
begin to worry and wonder. . i

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