U.S. `gave up nothing' on softwood

[CHIMO]

OTTAWA—The notion that Prime Minister Stephen Harper played hardball with U.S. President George W. Bush to win a valuable agreement for Canada on softwood lumber is being increasingly challenged by forestry companies.

After a two-week study of the draft deal meant to end decades of cross-border friction, lumber producers have decided to pull out all the stops to try to change the agreement, which they see as a danger to free trade and thousands of industry jobs.

"Nobody's happy with this. Our objective is to get back to free, unencumbered access to the U.S. market, but this is clearly not the way — this is a managed trade agreement," said Carl Grenier, executive vice-president of the Free Trade Lumber Council.

"Our instructions are that we ought to do anything and everything to improve the terms of the deal," said Grenier, whose advocacy group says it represents companies that produce 40 per cent of Canada's softwood lumber exports to the United States.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1147297812993&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

[tuvor]

1. Harper? "Hardball"?? No, he compromised his word, and us in the process.

"There can be no question of Canada returning to a conventional bargaining table, as the U.S. ambassador has suggested. You don't negotiate after you've won. The issue is compliance. And achieving full compliance should be the objective of the prime minister." Stephen Harper in an address to the Conservative national caucus in Halifax on Sept. 7, 2005.

[Spazito]

2. Harper using mafia tactics, no surprise there

I suspect few here are surprised the faux Cons gave away the store to get into bush's good graces. Disgusting POSs, the lot of them.