Wednesday, September 15, 2010

On raw deals

It may have seemed like the Cons' decision to burn $16 billion on a sole-sourced contract to buy F-35s couldn't get any worse. But one should never underestimate the Cons' ability to negotiate a more damaging deal than any remotely reasonable person could possibly imagine signing, particularly where the U.S. is involved. (Anybody remember their handing $1 billion to U.S. interests who had lobbied for illegal tariffs in exchange for softwood lumber "peace" which lasted approximately .7 nanoseconds?)

And apparently they've fallen into that pattern again with the fighter jet fiasco. Now, Le Devoir reports that they've voluntarily abandoned Canada's normal policy of requiring domestic investment in the amount of a defence contract in order to secure the privilege of overpaying Lockheed Martin for the planes. Which looks to do nothing but ensure that our public money does as little as possible for Canadian citizens - and offers another signal that given the choice between Canada's population and American corporate interests, the Harper Cons will take the latter's side at every opportunity.

No comments:

Post a Comment