(Through Rose-Coloured Glasses)

After all the hard work done for more than a year, finally we have a deal. A deal with Washington to circumvent the “Buy America” rules that have barred Canadian exporters from bidding on hundreds of millions of dollars in economic stimulus projects south of the border.

Beware, this is a Trojan horse.

It comes with a limited warranty and a condition.

A warranty that gives Canadian firms access to state and local projects funded by Obama’s year-old American Recovery and Reinvestment Act only.

It may be too late now to provide much help for Canadian companies hoping to bid on these urban renewal projects. Of the promised $275 billion (U.S.) in infrastructure projects, contracts worth $200 billion had already been handed out to American companies by the end of December, according to U.S. government reports. So we can only bid on the left over.

And then there is a condition that most Canadian provinces and municipalities have to permanently given up their highly-valued right to use government procurement to spur local economic growth by favouring homegrown goods and suppliers.

The question remains, by hurrying to market, are we giving away much too much to reach a compromise with Washington, and gain an inch by giving away a yard?

But all our political leaders are happy, ready to sign on the dotted line.

Is this the best they can wrestle out of the Obama administration? Unfortunately we are not in any strong economic position to bargain; unlike the Chinese, who can play hardball with the American.

Well, what do you expect from a government that closely follows the coattail of Obama. We were not able to fix our own 2020 carbon emission targets, not until two days after the American announced their objective. It was pointed out by some environmentalists; this would lead to a 2.5 percent increase in Canada’s CO2 emissions from 1990 levels.

Our banking system is more superior than the American, definitely with no cancerous sub-prime problem; and yet when the financial tsunami hit, we were pulled deeply into the rapid current by the American and subsequently drowned in this recession, just the same. Our economy relies too much on our neighbour. We are always the poor cousin of the American. And they show us no respect. BTW, Obama is not coming to the open ceremony of our Winter Olympic game. He is sending his vice president, Joe Biden. What do we expect anyway?

But still we welcome the Trojan horse with open arms. Pretty soon, our whole country, all our big corporations, will become the subsidiaries of the American Empire. Then we don’t even have to worry about the “Buy America” policy, we will be sucked into and become part of that family, after all.