When Trump talks about the 51st state or ‘jokes’ about a merger, most people think of a territorial invasion. Meanwhile, what we’ve missed is the ongoing erosion of our economic sovereignty that’s been happening under our noses.
Without re-litigating NAFTA and the USMCA — simultaneously the best and worst trade deals ever, depending on when you’re asking the man who spearheaded it — these choices and the neoliberal political order that created them are part of the trend that brought us here. Deep integration with the U.S., the takeover of Canadian firms by American corporations, and the outsized influence of American multinationals on Canada’s economy and government may feel like new problems in this moment, but they have been growing for years.
If everyday Canadians would stop shopping at these places they’d eventually go away without political backlash. Unfortunately, I don’t think people are willing to give up F150s and Costco for anything.
Agreed. The majority of people seem to have a problem with giving up convenience. Case in point: I fought against and posted against “self check out”. People lose jobs. EI, CPP, and taxes are lost when we choose the self check-out. And yet, we keep doing it. Stores purposely have less tellers so people will get fed up and move to the self check out. If everyone REFUSED to use self check out, they would go away. People aren’t willing to take a stand. Sad. I still refuse to use self check out,