The Insecure Canadian Border

Lets play make believe for a second...what if the poverty in Mexico existed in Canada?  Think for just a moment about what causes the number of illegal aliens to risk their lives sneaking across the U.S. southern border.  It is poverty in Mexico, a lack of jobs and prospects.

Having spent a lifetime studying history I can assert that Mexico is in the condition it is in for two reasons: (1) Europeans robbed them blind during the colonial period only casting them off when the natural resources had been nearly sucked dry; (2) An utter lack of conscience on the part of the European colonial powers who cared not a whit about nation building.  With that historic back drop, it is the ultimate irony that European fat heads are preening themselves over their diplomatic skills and acting all condescending to the United States.  Only the ignorance of the public allows them to behave in that manner.

Compare the poor economic condition of Mexico with that of Canada.  No question Mexico is in tough shape.  High unemployment and a large poverty stricken population contribute to Mexico's current economic plight.  Canada is facing growing unemployment and stagnant economic growth itself.  Looking at the two nation's future prospects, I was struck by something rather interesting.  If you were betting on a nations future, would you see brighter prospects in Mexico or Canada?  One is creeping toward European style socialism and the other is growing through cheep labor and capitalism as business relocate to the country.  At one point I would have decried the corruption in Mexico as holding the nation back, but I look at Canada now and the massive scandals in the liberal party and I really don't see much to separate the two nations there.  If you are betting on the future, would you bet on Capitalism with its track record, or socialism?

That said, what are we doing to secure our northern border?  I don't want a bunch of Canadians coming down here willing to work for peanuts stealing good jobs from Americans!  One good thing about the northern border though, it is hard as hell to swim across the St. Lawrence River!

Comments

[Matt Hurley]

I've been saying it for years..."Mr. President, BUILD THAT WALL!" :)

Peter should really love this one... :)

[Peter Konefal]

Once again, you outdo yourself Mahatma!

Perhaps your best line is the following

"Having spent a lifetime studying history..."

To that I say..."hah".

More seriously though, your post is so ridiculously off track that its better to leave its preposterousness naked and unchallenged rather than add any serious criticisms.

So, to make you happy and accord with your divine knowledge of the world, I will agree. Canada is utterly socialist, our economy is in tatters next and we're within a few minutes of a depression-like crash.

Secondly, canadians hate living in Canada because they can't get a job anywhere, and our country is horrible in all respects next to the unmitigated glory of the US and its vastly superior society in all respects.

I myself, am on my way to the ungaurded US border as we speak so I can sneak in ASAP.

If as matt suggest, you build that wall (I couldn't agree more, I mean why not?!?) I will do my best to climb over it or under it and drag my flea infested, poor relatives along with me.!!

Its just common sense that the prospects for upward social mobility are vastly greater in the US than in say Canada or France (as you've probably guessed, I've been utterly sarcastic this entire post almost, and the last sentence is patently untrue. So stick that in your American tilly hat and smoke it !!! :)

)

[Peter Konefal]

I profusely apolagize for the tilley hat comment, because as you might suspect, tilley hats are more associated with Canada and Australia than the US. I should have said bowler hat...? Its hard to say. 10 gallon Cowboy hat perhaps?

[Dan Hamilton]

Its just common sense that the prospects for upward social mobility are vastly greater in the US than in say Canada or France.

There is no upward social mobility in France unless you are French. You KNOW that Peter.

In Ontario and Quebec there isn't any unless you speak French. Of course the rest of Canada tries to ignore Quebec and Ontario. I expect Quebec to become independant. The East, West and the North will join the US. Leaving Ontario all alone. From what I hear they will never notice.

Peter most Americans don't wear hats. We don't have to. Those from the Southwest sometimes wear hats to keep the Sun off. You know that bright thing in the sky Canadians see a few days a year.

Have fun. You Canadians are showing our Democrats how to stay in power no matter what. But the Democrats have to be carefull. The US still trusts its citizens with guns. We don't have to hide them here.

[Peter Konefal]

Its innacuracy and mistaken assumption after innacuracy and mistaken assumption with Canada on this blog!

MYTH: Canada has less guns per person than the US

FACT: Its about the same. Actually, we might have more, but probably less automatic rifles (i.e. no good for hunting and fishing).

MYTH: Canada's economy has performed poorly in the past decade relative to the US economy.

FACT: The opposite. Canada has recorded 8 consecutive federal budget surpluses, and Canada's economy has not experienced the "jobless" recovery which has afflicted the US for the past 2-3 years (excepting the last 6-7 months).

MYTH: Any particular Canadian or French born person stands a lesser chance of attaining upward social mobility in their lives than their counterparts in the US.

FACT: The reverse is true. Both Canadian and French societies produce better chances for upward social mobility than the US, although American's have more faith that hard work and determination will make the difference (especially as compared to France). See NYT for info.

MYTH: Canada is a socialist country.

FACT: Canada is a capitalist country with a strong (but declining) tradition of publicly funded institutions in such areas as healthcare, broadcasting and post-secondary education.

MYTH: Canada is an undesirable place to live.

FACT: Canada is ranked far above the US in terms of international desirability and its cities consistently outrank US cities for crime, environmental cleanliness, social services, healthcare and cultural services. For example, Vancouver (where I live) is ranked below Zurich and Geneva as the most desirable city on the planet in which to live.

And yes I will have fun, while you guys stew away in your 145th ranked cities....

[Peter Konefal]

Another one...

MYTH: Saudi Arabia supplies the United States with most of its oil.

FACT: Canada supplies the US with most of its oil and is the United States largest trading partner.

[Kevin B.]

Heh. I'm staying out of this one. :)

Oh, except that if there were a wall to be built, I'd rather it be on the Mexico border than the Canadian.

[Matt Hurley]

Don't get me wrong, fellas, I want that wall ELECTRIFIED with Tesla Coils every 50 yards or so...and I think it should be built on BOTH borders...preferably starting with the southern border, but there is enough evidence to support the need for one being built to the north as well. I want that wall, not because I hate Canadians and Mexicans, but because I want my country to be safe. I want immigrants to come here legally and leave when they are supposed to...preferably without blowing anything up while they were here. Now who has a problem with that?

Peter: I wrote a series on US oil issues for the Blogger News Network one of which featured your Canada is the largest supplier factoid...it was a pretty successful little series if I do say so myself. You can check out my BNN archive at http://www.legendgames.net/showauthor.asp?page=by%20Matt%20Hurley

[Peter Konefal]

Then you're more informed on that than most. :)

[Matt Hurley]

I wasn't before I started my research for that series... :) That was one of the reasons why I wrote the series...those sorts of little factoids aren't getting a whole lot of press.

Semi-Related question: Doesn't that little factoid kinda shoot a hole of some size in the whole War-For-Oil meme?

[Peter Konefal]

Possibly. That said, Canada's oil reserves are mostly found in Alberta's tar sands and its slightly more expensive to extract than the quick and easy sweet light crude out of Saudi Arabia.

The proximity to the US market, however, makes it a lot more worth the while (supertanker mishaps anyone?)

The basic principle behind the war for oil meme, is itself insufficient to totally acount for us foriegn policy in the middle east. I'll give you that much.

I'm more on the side of scholars who view US interests in that region as strictly self-serving. When it suits US interests to promote democracy, it does so. When it doesn't it interferes with democracy and helps to set up favourable governments.

Despite G. Bush's efforts, the operative tendency is still the same as it was in the 1930s, when a certain someone distilled the logic of a large degree of US foreign policy into a single sentence.

It doesn't matter that (a given government is led by a dictatorship) he's a bastard, so long as he's OUR bastard.

As you say matt, your mileage will vary...

If you ask me this is pretty close to your 'first rule of international relations'.

But if you agree, then it does poke holes through the 'spreading freedom and democracy' explanation, since half the time that explanation will not at all explain US efforts to obstruct democracies it doesn't like.

i.e. Iran in the 1950s, there was a democratically elected government that was overthrown by the US and later installed with a theocratic dictator sympathetic to US demands.

I say, you reap what you sow in this case.

[Peter Konefal]

And by that I mean, what would have happened if theocracy had never gotten a huge start in Iran?

What if democracy had been allowed to develop in its own way?

[Mahatma]

Peter:

It was fun kidding you...but seriously what Canada needs more than anything is a good dose of Ronald Reagan! Surely we can both agree on that!

:-)

As an American with lots of family in Canada, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland mostly, I probably understand more about Canada than most Americans. Here is a joke:

The Newfoundland Hockey Team challenged the Montreal Canadians to a game but hoping to steal an easy win they told them the wrong date and time. The ploy went off perfectly, late in the third quarter they scored!

OK, having established my bonafides...and picked on Newfoundland I want to go back to my point.

Canada MUST change some of its existing nanny state policy. Two issues in particular irk me: (1) Universal healthcare, (2) Perscription Drug Price Controls.

The universal healthcare policy is causing financial strains on Canada and is definately contributing to the degredation of the quality of healthcare in Canada. As I see it, the irrational treatment of healthcare as a 'right' causes two undesireable things to occur; the first is that the Medical profession becomes an undesireable profession to work in. Why spend a dozen years of post secondary education to have the government step on your future earnings potential. The second issue is that the quality declines as the demand exceeeds the supply. In many respects the same strain is being felt in the U.S. healthcare system as health insurance providers motivated by profit squeeze the only folks they can squeeze...doctors and patients.

The perscription drug issue almost pisses me off. The same drug companies sell the same product in Canada under a price controlled system. All this has done is force the price of drugs higher in the U.S., as U.S. citizens are paying for Canada's socialism. There is any easy solution, tariffs, and if Canada wants the U.S. citizens to subsidize it's price controls scheme I say screw 'em and slap a huge tarrif on the exportation of drugs. We can even index it to the difference in market value between the product in the U.S. and the price fixed product in Canada.

Surely a better solution would be for Canadians to apply some common sense to their healthcare policy...you can't get something for nothing and government directly interfering in the market always has a long term negative impact. It would be nice if U.S. politicians grew a pair and got tough with some of our trading partners.

Having droned on long I enough, I'll head off to the golf course. I extend fraternal greetings to our socialist brothers to the North!

[Peter Konefal]

yawn. more of the same.

No doubt, Canada's health care system has its problems.

Three main issues as I see it:

#1. Mismanagement (using corporate styles of efficiency to determine what's best for healthcare and short sighted, reactive rather than proactive management)

#2. Under-funding

Fix these two problems, vast problems though they are, and many things will be in better shape.

As to prescription drugs, I'm not an expert or even knowledgeable in that field, so what I can say is limited. What I do know is that there is a competition between drug innovator companies (protected by patents and needing to recoup their investments) and drug replicators (mass producing similar drugs to patented drugs). A good prescription drug policies balanced production and demand between these two types of companies and their consumer. The innovators need to recoup their investment while being prevented from having unnecessary monopolies, and the replicators need to be able to provide price competition (keep the monopolies away and protect consumers).

I can't comment on the relation between canada and the Us in this respect, but the tired socialist comments, are just that....tired.

Both capitalism and socialism have merits and drawbacks. its not an either/or situation as you would like to believe. As though markets were "perfect" in every way.

Sorry buddy, that line of thinking is just as crazy as marxist extremism.

[Peter Konefal]

One more thing.

As to the golf, I am right with you. I just bought a new set of golf clubs and and I'm off to the range....oh yeah beautiful sun and blue sky here I come.....!!

[Mahatma]

They have sun in Canada? Who knew...

[Peter the Fierce]

Its kind of a sun. We call it something different in our own Canuckistan native language. Most of the time we don't see it because we're stuck in our igloos unable to play golf because the sod is frozen over like the barren wastelands of tiberia.

[Matt Hurley]

I like honesty in a Canadian...it's refreshing... :)

[Kevin B.]

I can see how the vocabularly for a 'sun' concept would be much more limited in Canuckian than the 400 word variety for 'snow'... ;)

[Peter the even Fiercer]

My good foobly (god type being in canuckistan lingo), if only you knew.

We only have a few words for "sun" and most of them are long since forgotten....oh that we will ever see such a bright orb again...

seriously though,

I AM AN AMERICAN TOO you freakos,

dual citizenship hey,

its a perplexing situation indeed. And you should know, I take my allegience to both nations very seriously. Just this memorial weekend, I have been watching many of the services broadcast on tv, and especially the national geographic presentation on arlington cemetary. The guard rituals there are just fascinating...the symbolism of the number 21 etc.

In any case lest you all not know, both of my parents are American, and my grandfather fought in WWII for the US. Also, lest you not know, the Canadian forces were a major presence in WWII and in Korea and many other conflict zones.

Our nations have a greater history of unity than they have of division. Thus, it is not a great difficulty be be a citizen of both. Both stand for freedom and liberty. Both stand for many of the same enlightenment principles enshrined in the US constitution.

[Kevin B.]

Haha... Sorry Peter. I wouldn't tease you if I didn't like you. (Odd but true logic for me.)

Though Canada does seem a target for such ribbing, most of what I've heard has been self-deprecating humor coming from Canadians themselves...

However, your comments on US-Canadian commonality are well-said, and I agree completely with them. Even the part about being freakos (although I guess I should only speak for myself; Matt and Mahatma may differ.)

Besides, if we keep teasing you, you'd run out of superlatives for 'fierce' pretty quick... (fiercest, fiercer-est, fiercest-est...?) :)

[Peter]

Alas, you got me there. So true.... :)

[Peter]

Thinking as one does, about the status of the G8 and the nations within it, I have to add to Mahatmas hilarious provocation a few weeks ago:

Mahatma said:

"Canada is facing stagnant economic growth....etc etc"

Everyone should read Jeffrey Simpson's column in today's Globe and Mail on Canada's place (economically) in the G8. Here's an extensive quote:

"Canada has a balanced national budget. No other G8 country (Russia excluded) comes close. The U.S. budget deficit is horrible... The British, Italians, Germans and French all have deficits above 3 per cent of GNP.

Canada has a trade surplus, built exclusively, it should be said, on bilateral trade with the Americans. The Japanese and Germans have trade surpluses, too, but the others don't...

The U.S., in other words, is running a triple D, with deficits on budget, trade and current account; Canada is running a triple S, with surpluses in all three categories.

Canada's unemployment rate stands in the middle of the G8 pack. But its employment rate — the share of the population working — rose faster from 1976 to 2003 (9.1 per cent, to 73.3 per cent from 64.2 per cent) than in other G8 countries. Next best was the U.S., with a 6.9-per-cent increase.

From 1995 to 1999... a growth rate of 3.7 per cent put Canada second, and growth of 3.1 per cent from 2000 to 2004 placed Canada first.

So, Canada is first or second in economic growth, the only country with a balanced national budget, and the only one with budgetary, trade and current account surpluses."

Not too shabby eh?

[Peter Konefal]

Check out this.....

JTF2: Canada’s super-secret commandos
CBC News Online | March 2, 2004

Members of the Canadian special forces, Col. Daniel Leplatois of the French Antilles Army and unidentified US Marines colonel meet at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince (AP photo)If truth is one of the first casualties of war, secrecy is one of war's first exigencies. There is no better instance of this than Canada's elite commando unit, which is so secretive Canadian authorities are hesitant even to refer to it as an elite commando unit.
But the United States is well aware of Canada's Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2). The U.S. was impressed by JTF2's performance in Afghanistan and had its eye on the unit for its campaign in Iraq.
JTF2 consists of volunteers from three branches of the Canadian Armed Forces. JTF2 began in 1993 when it took over counter-terrorist duties from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Its numbers are said to be about 350. Its Canadian base is Dwyer Hill Training Centre in Ottawa's rural west end.
JTF2 works with a budget of $25 million, though the Ministry of Defence hopes to increase this. The average age of a JTF2 commando is 28, considerably more experienced than fresh-faced recruits. As Canadians, JTF2 soldiers are acknowledged to be specialists in cold-weather fighting, having done extensive training in the Canadian Arctic.
This is Canada's special force, our elite fighters. They are selected and trained as rigorously as any elite force in the world, which includes Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) and, in the United States, the Green Berets, Rangers and Delta Force. The requirements of the U.S. super-elite Delta Force probably also apply to Britain's SAS and Canada's JTF2, which means a quarter of those who volunteer – and these are top soldiers – are routinely washed out. Of those who go on, one in 10 makes it to the elite unit.
These are the units deployed to trouble spots to act with stealth and deadly force. They are trained to rope down from helicopters, live off the land for months, break a combatant's hip with a kick to the upper femur.
Much of what we know of the value of JTF2 comes from U.S. sources.
We learned just before Christmas 2001 that JTF2 was part of a seven-nation operation called Task Force K-Bar during the campaign in Afghanistan. Task Force K-Bar took part in 42 reconnaissance and surveillance missions, as well as what U.S. military authorities call "direct action" operations. JTF2 soldiers were part of commando operations that killed at least 115 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters and captured 107 senior Taliban leaders over a six-month period.
JTF2 commandos led a mountain climb in Afghanistan to reach a high-altitude observation post. The Canadians also entered caves looking for enemy forces and intelligence. One of their missions, called Operation Anaconda, took place last March when JTF2 soldiers stationed themselves high in the Afghanistan mountains to feed information to army units on the ground.
The Canadians worked with U.S. Navy commandos and elite forces from Australia. U.S. Navy Commander Kerry Metz, director of operations for Task Force K-Bar, praised the work of the "foreign" commandos to members of Congress.
"We were fortunate to have the finest special operators from a coalition of seven nations," Metz said. "We challenged our operators to conduct missions in some of the most hostile environments ever operated in. For example, we had special reconnaissance teams operating in the mountains of Afghanistan above 10,000 feet for extended periods without resupply."
Before this, the only direct reference to the work of JTF2 in Afghanistan was the embarrassing photograph of JTF2 soldiers escorting captured al-Qaeda prisoners on a tarmac. It resulted in a parliamentary uproar and an investigation into why then-defence minister Art Eggleton did not immediately inform Prime Minister Jean Chrétien that JTF2 had been involved in taking prisoners in Afghanistan.
Scott Taylor, publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine has said JTF2 is as good as the American Delta Force and Britain's SAS. It is believed JTF2 was on the ground for a time in Kosovo, finding important targets and using lasers to guide military aircraft and smart bombs toward them.
When Conservative MP David Price told the House of Commons that JTF2 was on the ground in the Kosovo campaign, the government heatedly denied it – but with covert operations, this is the requisite government response. To do otherwise would be to risk JTF2 lives. JTF2 almost certainly was deployed to Quebec City in April 2001 as back-up during the violent protests during the hemispheric trade talks.
As for its role in Afghanistan, Taylor of Esprit de Corps said, "This is exactly the role for them. These guys would go in. They would be a special covert operation. They would just simply be putting their lives on the line. Every one of these guys, they joined for that purpose."
David Rudd, with the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, told CBC News the soldiers of JTF2 are not trained to take and hold ground. "What they do is infiltrate into dangerous areas behind enemy lines, look for key targets and take them out. They don't go out to arrest people. They don't go out there to hand out food parcels. They go out to kill targets."
Worth noting, however, is that even elite forces sometimes aren't up to the task. As documented in the book Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden (and the movie of the same name), the U.S. Rangers and Delta Force were deployed to Somalia in the early 1990s to kill or capture Habr Gibr clan leaders, especially warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid.
The elite unit came with heavily armed, troop-carrying Black Hawk helicopters and the speedy, bubble-topped AH-6 attack choppers known as Little Birds. Eighteen U.S. soldiers were killed, along with nearly 1,000 Somalis. This was the ugly street battle remembered by the ghastly photograph of a Black Hawk crew member dragged on his back, naked and dead, through the streets of Mogadishu.
The elite soldiers knew where Aidid was hiding – the city, the street, the building – but they were never able to get him.

[Matt Hurley]

JTF2 is good...but that's just one unit. What else you got? That works, I mean... :)