Quote:
Originally Posted by mobertol
How wise - I suppose it's like Canada being lumped together with the USA as North America.... you wouldn't really want that either! 
How's the weather over there Eric -has the cold arrived yet - still mild here so far... |
Don't forget Mexico
We have very close ties with the US ... NAFTA for eg. ... but NAFTA is the kind of thing that most European countries could live with. And NORAD ... people forget, or are not aware of, the fact that the RCAF plays a large role in the defence of North America ... in fact, we have purchased a bunch of F-35s from the US to beef up our contribution to NORAD, and to make us a force to be reckoned with in the North. However, we are an independent nation, and go our own way in foreign and domestic policy. We recognize Cuba; the yanks don't. We didn't participate in the Iraq fiasco. The yanks didn't like it; but screw 'em if they can't take a joke.
And our decision proved to be the right one. We helped in the bailout of the US auto industry ... to the tune of about $25 billion, I think. The payoff for that was jobs for Canadian auto workers. The yanks are baulking at the building of the pipeline which would take Canadian oil to the Gulf ... and they have been told in no uncertain terms that if they don't want the oil, the Chinese will be more than happy to take it .... I'm using too many words again (sorry Marg P
) ... but the bottom line is: you can have close economic, political, and military ties without giving up sovreignty, whatever the weather.
Enough EU stuff: the weather here is unseasonably warm ... but a few days down the road shows below normal temps; and maybe some of the white stuff.