Obama, NAFTA, and Canada

We usually don't get dragged into politics, especially U.S. politics, but it's fair to say this is relevant to our audience.

As you may know, Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both said they would re-open NAFTA.

There were allegations leaked by the Canadian government that Obama had said one thing to the voters and another behind closed doors. Clearly, we know that isn't true. Everyone involved has denied the wording.

There were also allegations that the Harper government tried to meddle in the U.S. Democratic Party race, as featured in this video. The first gentleman who is speaking is Jack Layton, an MP and head of the New Democratic Party (no relation to the U.S. Democrats). The NDP could be described as a left-leaning party. The second gentleman in the video is Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is from the Conservative Party.

LAYTON: The prime minister’s office has been interfering in the Democratic primaries with false accusations trying to silence Barack Obama who simply wants to amend the NAFTA. It is completely unacceptable for that kind of interference to be stalking place. Will the prime minster fire the source of the interference, fire his chief of staff?

HARPER: The Canadian embassy in Washington has issued a statement indicating its regret at the fact that information has come out that would imply Sen. Obama has been saying different things in public than in private. Mr. Speaker, the government of Canada does not not condone this and certainly regrets any implication… (the video ends)

We at Canadian Corner are eager to see if and how NAFTA is renegotiated in the new administration, whether it be Obama, Hillary Clinton, or John McCain. McCain has not indicated any interest in renegotiating NAFTA, and hasn't spoken on the matter.