4°- Friday, July 18, 1980 -

‘Socth Shore News

Bob Hunter

® strictly personal ®

1, FOR ONE, am sleeping better about the trade talks with
the United States now that Pat Carney has taken over.

With all due respect to Joe
Clark, Carney is by far the best
person Brian Mulroney could have
put forward to take the helm at the
international trade department.

Canada is a nation that lives or
dies on its trade. The next genera-
tion of Canadian jobs, if there are
to be any, depends to a terrifying
degree on the success of the cur-
rent round of negotiations with the
Yankee traders for a more open
deal.

I'm probably a typical Canadian
in the sense that until about a year
ago, the subject of trade made me
yawn. Since then, like most
everybody else, I’ve been educated
in the hard facts of national life.

We may be a highly industrializ-
ed nation, but we are also part of
the Third World, in that we export
raw materials to be refined or
manufactured elsewhere.

Some 79 per cent of our private
sector is owned by Americans, yet,
paradoxically, the U.S. market
provides 2.5 million jobs for Ca-
nadians.

A Noss of just 10 per cent of sales
to the U.S. would throw a quarter
of a million Canadians cut of
work.

I would say that, until recently, |
was also a_ typical Canadian
because I had a feeling of fear and
loathing about the tariff barriers
along the border being lowered.
"My God, we'd be gobbled up,
bought out, out-hustled, out-
marketed, overwhelmed by sheer
economies of scale.

“"..we need to invade
America again. This
time peacefully. And
the price will HAVE
to be that they get to
come and play in our
sandbox too.”’

But I don’t believe that any
longer. The polls may show more
and more Canadians getting the
shakes, if you'll excuse the expres
sion, over freer trade, but | am in
the lucky position of having spent
a fair amount of time in the U.S.
this year.

I have seen how Canadians can
— and do — fare quite well, thank
you, in the American marketplace.
The truth of the matter is that we
have several advantages, not least
among them a national passion for
thrift and hard work.

Add on certain educational! ad-
vantages and you begin to see why
almost all Canadians who move to
the States, ar at least get involved
in the wonderously complex
American marketplace, not only
have a Jot of fun, but they make
money.

How successful are Canadians
when they trade with Americans?
The answer is that fantastic $18-
billion trade surplus in our favor!
We can hardly be helpless
schmucks if we do that well,

It may sound strange, but J
think Mulroney has moved boldly
and with courage in the trade ini-
tiative. Canada is at a grow-or-
stagnate juncture, dependent on
American markets, yet with no in-
ternal leverage on the other side of
the border.

It is absolutely true that entire

Canadian industries can be wiped
out at the stroke of a pen in the
U.S. Congress. That’s scary. We
have to work out some kind of
deal to protect ourselves.

In a phrase, we need to invade
America again. This time peace-
fully. And the price will HAVE to
be that they get to come and play
in our sandbox too.

Carney asked for the job of
trade boss, by the way. Such was
her standing after her triumphant
march through the Oil Patch she
could have had virtually any job
she wanted.

The fact that she picked trade
means that there is a much,
MUCH better chance that some-
thing real is going to happen. She's
the perfect person for the job.
Smart enough. Tough enough.
Capable of playing hard ball in the
big leagues.

The main thing is that Ms.
Carney is not one of those people

who quail before the
power when they finally do reach
them, | have seen paralysis seize
politicians before. Call it a failure

of will in the daunting face of

change.

Not Pat.

She’s a poker player. She will
get down and push for a deal.
With her background in
economics, her own schooling in
the rough-and-tumble of the mar-
ketplace, and her ability to ask the
right questions, she's the most
formidable warrior we could have
fielded.

My prediction now is that some
kind of freer trade deal WILL be
hammered out.

Until recently, Pat Carney was
the most powerful woman politi-
cian in Canada. Given the impor-
tance of a freer trade success not
merely to the country but to the
fortunes of the Tory party, it is
fair to say that she is now the most
powerful politician, barring the
prime minister, period.

levers of

Man struck at bawling alley

AN 18-year-old man was assaulted
July 10 at the Brunswick Lions
Gate Lanes bowling alley in West
Vancouver.

The man suffered a fractured
nose and a black eye in the assault,

From the smallest
to the largest

priced
from

which cccurred at approximately
8:45 p.m.

A suspect, 2t-year-old Vince Ng,
of 2567 bello: Street, Vancouver,
was apprehenced.

Charges are pending against Ng.

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