The Urge to Say "I Told 'Ya So . . . . "

While going through files in preparation for the move north in three weeks (Yay!!), I came across a letter to the editor I wrote which was published in the September 5th, 2005 edition of the Vancouver Sun.

The letter was written commenting on the then on-going turmoil over the US/Canada softwood lumber negotiations. Part of it reads:

If the Canadian government does not demand the return of the money collected for softwood lumber tariffs, the U.S. government will continue to violate agreements unless there are repercussions. The arrogance and heavy-handedness the Bush administration practices in international affairs embarrasses many intelligent Americans. The only things these people understand are money, power and most importantly, oil.

With that in mind, a heavy tax levied on Canadian oil exports would have a major impact and might get their attention. After, all, there are plenty of other countries that would be more than happy to buy Canadian petroleum products.

Why do I bring this up today? Well, also in the Vancouver Sun - today's edition - there is an article referencing the aforementioned softwood lumber deal. Guess what? Now the US looks to be "fine-tuning" the deal to the chagrin of Canadians.

U.S. ties Canadian lumber exporters in red tape

Congress passes bill that will make life even harder for ailing forestry industry.

Gordon Hamilton -Vancouver Sun - Wednesday, May 14, 2008


The U.S. Congress passed a bill Wednesday that could wrap Canadian lumber imports in red tape and has the potential to impose limits beyond the restrictions already in the softwood lumber agreement.

The new legislation, added onto an unrelated farm bill by politicians sympathetic to the U.S. lumber lobby, requires importers to certify that all taxes have been paid on the lumber they receive. The bill includes enforcement measures, including intrusive company audits, penalties and fines.

The bill can add cost, waste time and give the Americans "a political weapon" in the lumber trade that it didn't have before, B.C. Council of Forest Industries president John Allan said Wednesday.

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Washington trade lawyer Elliott Feldman said the Americans have, for the first time in the 25-year-long dispute, written softwood lumber into their legislation. He described it as a flagrant breach of the 2006 softwood lumber agreement, under which Canada monitors exports and collects the appropriate tax.

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International Trade Minister David Emerson was not commenting Monday on the U.S. bill, however, the Canadian embassy in Washington is writing the U.S. administration on the issue.

'Ya need to watch who you're kissin' up to, stevie. Many times it comes back to bite 'ya in the ass.

Why do I have this uncontrollable urge to call MP David Emerson and PM stevie harper and loudly scream: "I Told 'Ya So, You Morons!"

But I won't.

I'm much too refined to do such a thing.

Damn it . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moving to Vancouver)