Maxime Bernier starts the week with a solid policy announcement.
16 Replies to “Once again”
Free trade is not an automatic panacea for creating wealth. There are intangible goods that groups of persons value and that other groups of persons may not value as much. Thus, respecting the right of large groups of people to regulate trade within their polity is important. While we might agree that less expensive eggs and cheese are worth a new federal administrative department it will not stop there. It will turn into a club to transfer wealth from western provinces to eastern ones. It will be used to enforce a bland homogenous sameness into our confederation.
Using the federal government to enforce free trade between provinces is a mistake. And free trade is not an automatic good. It must be tempered with wisdom. We don’t automatically get cheaper eggs, milk, and beer for nothing, we will have to give something up, and we should be aware of what that is before we do.
William
Bernier fails to mention the most important reason for having free trade between provinces — prosperity.
Trade barriers costs us by increasing prices for consumers and companies, by sustaining economic inefficiencies, and so on.
We don’t automatically get cheaper eggs, milk, and beer for nothing, we will have to give something up
What will we have to give up, other than the government bureaucracies that are currently impeding trade?
Here come equal royalties in all provinces, overseen by the federal gov’t…anything else is a trade barrier, natural advantage be damned…
Bernier is on the right track although I would prefer a more direct approach than increasing leviathan. He sounds more libertarian than conservative but since few Canadians can even spell libertarian let alone know what it means, he is trying to lead a party of too many happy-faced socialists. I’m reminded of veteran politicians with similar early leanings namely Stephen Harper and Gordon Campbell. They didn’t change the system but the system definitely changed them.
I’m feelin’ the Bern.
William have you ever driven along the north shore in Quebek? It is dotted with small inefficient dairy farms who’s existence is protected by law. Quebek is guaranteed 50% of the Canadian industrial milk quota. Marketing boards are something you might expect in a command economy.
I personally don’t care where my food comes from. If bananas can be produced efficiently on the quebeck north shore then I guess they will compete in the market place. Milk production in a sub arctic country like ours is very expensive. It makes sense that it has to be contemplated only with the greatest degree of efficiency in order to be viable.
Bernier can’t win. The quebek political machine will make sure of that. He is at best positioning himself for something down the road.
abtrapper;
I did not know the specific % of milk quota that Quebec gets. Those little dairies you see milk herds of 40 – 60 cows which is unheard of in most of the industry. So yes very inefficient. The issue that particularly burns is that Quebec dominates the processed dairy segment. ie cheese, yogurts and ice cream. When quota was created across the country Quebec got this bone in exchange for whole milk production. As if those dairies ever would have been competitive in the West.
So BC does not produce enough white milk to fill the market and must import from out of province. Quebec has a monopoly on processed dairy which of course is the most lucrative part of the market.
We have a dairy farmer here who wanted to make cheese but could not get quota. He sold his milk quota, kept his cows, and started making cheese anyways. Rather than create a visible dust up the Milk Marketing Board cut a deal with him where he sells his milk to the Board and they in turn sell it back to him so he can make cheese. The bureaucracy remains whole and you guessed it the pubic pays the extra cost.
For starters tell the french quebekers to get their filthy language off of our goods that will save alot of money right there. While i like bernier and i kinda feel the bern ilike steele more he is a fiscal and social conservative ….like me. 🙂
Sorry andrew sheere is the man
Sheer and trost bernier is in third get the women out of there …ambrose is a good intrim but not permanent i know alot of men and women that will not vote for a woman.
i know alot of men and women that will not vote for a woman.
I don’t know any. One of us is hanging out with the wrong crowd.
says you. some people are traditional and understand women are susceptable to emotional maniplation a lot more than men
My objection is not just applicable to this one example. Yes, it seems unjust to me that Canadians as a whole pay more for certain goods so that a certain sub-set of Quebec farmers can work their little farms. Removing this protection may result in a net benefit for Canadians as a whole. A few people suffer but more people benefit.
However, in general, when we decide to import cheap goods from somewhere else, that removes those jobs from the Canadian economy. For the sake of argument let’s say that a quantity of people are no longer employed.
Those people go on the job market and compete with other people for jobs. They take the jobs they can, and displace other people. Eventually a certain smaller quantity of people, with the least amount of skill and experience, are unemployed. All classic free market reality. Given no other changes these people are now wards of the state since we have a welfare system.
So, by importing marginally cheaper goods we have displaced the weakest wage earners in our society into becoming dependent upon the state, with all the moral ills and costs that this entails. So we may pay less for certain goods, but more in taxes to support welfare dependents.
I used to be a complete free trade, “free to choose”, type person. Careful study indicates to me that this is not always the best policy. In general, free trade results in the most wealth and prosperity for all. But there are financial and social cases where it is not.
Taking away a province’s power to regulate its economy centralizes power in the hands of the federal government seems to me to be a bigger problem than some people in Quebec protecting their dairy farms. Note that the issues is created by a federal regulation that means we can’t just start some big efficient ones in Saskatchewan. Right? We could allow Quebecer’s to pay more to protect their dairy farms, while we buy cheaper cheese from efficient Saskatchewan farms. But the federal government protects the supply system.
And then the whole thing is ruled over by the transfer payment system. Quebec has crappy policies that make them a have not province, and if we make it worse, they just take more money.
Given the whole damn problem is created by federal regulations and laws, it seems to me the solution is not another federal regulation or law.
Hey Max! What about property rights, Max?
I am waiting to hear straight-forward talk about the fraudulent nature of political correctness in general and climate change in particular.
We had a government for almost ten years that missed a golden opportunity to campaign openly on what some might have whispered behind closed doors.
I think we all know that. But those who are not afraid are apparently also not electable. I know I’m not (afraid, or electable).
Free trade is not an automatic panacea for creating wealth. There are intangible goods that groups of persons value and that other groups of persons may not value as much. Thus, respecting the right of large groups of people to regulate trade within their polity is important. While we might agree that less expensive eggs and cheese are worth a new federal administrative department it will not stop there. It will turn into a club to transfer wealth from western provinces to eastern ones. It will be used to enforce a bland homogenous sameness into our confederation.
Using the federal government to enforce free trade between provinces is a mistake. And free trade is not an automatic good. It must be tempered with wisdom. We don’t automatically get cheaper eggs, milk, and beer for nothing, we will have to give something up, and we should be aware of what that is before we do.
William
Bernier fails to mention the most important reason for having free trade between provinces — prosperity.
Trade barriers costs us by increasing prices for consumers and companies, by sustaining economic inefficiencies, and so on.
We don’t automatically get cheaper eggs, milk, and beer for nothing, we will have to give something up
What will we have to give up, other than the government bureaucracies that are currently impeding trade?
Here come equal royalties in all provinces, overseen by the federal gov’t…anything else is a trade barrier, natural advantage be damned…
Bernier is on the right track although I would prefer a more direct approach than increasing leviathan. He sounds more libertarian than conservative but since few Canadians can even spell libertarian let alone know what it means, he is trying to lead a party of too many happy-faced socialists. I’m reminded of veteran politicians with similar early leanings namely Stephen Harper and Gordon Campbell. They didn’t change the system but the system definitely changed them.
I’m feelin’ the Bern.
William have you ever driven along the north shore in Quebek? It is dotted with small inefficient dairy farms who’s existence is protected by law. Quebek is guaranteed 50% of the Canadian industrial milk quota. Marketing boards are something you might expect in a command economy.
I personally don’t care where my food comes from. If bananas can be produced efficiently on the quebeck north shore then I guess they will compete in the market place. Milk production in a sub arctic country like ours is very expensive. It makes sense that it has to be contemplated only with the greatest degree of efficiency in order to be viable.
Bernier can’t win. The quebek political machine will make sure of that. He is at best positioning himself for something down the road.
abtrapper;
I did not know the specific % of milk quota that Quebec gets. Those little dairies you see milk herds of 40 – 60 cows which is unheard of in most of the industry. So yes very inefficient. The issue that particularly burns is that Quebec dominates the processed dairy segment. ie cheese, yogurts and ice cream. When quota was created across the country Quebec got this bone in exchange for whole milk production. As if those dairies ever would have been competitive in the West.
So BC does not produce enough white milk to fill the market and must import from out of province. Quebec has a monopoly on processed dairy which of course is the most lucrative part of the market.
We have a dairy farmer here who wanted to make cheese but could not get quota. He sold his milk quota, kept his cows, and started making cheese anyways. Rather than create a visible dust up the Milk Marketing Board cut a deal with him where he sells his milk to the Board and they in turn sell it back to him so he can make cheese. The bureaucracy remains whole and you guessed it the pubic pays the extra cost.
For starters tell the french quebekers to get their filthy language off of our goods that will save alot of money right there. While i like bernier and i kinda feel the bern ilike steele more he is a fiscal and social conservative ….like me. 🙂
Sorry andrew sheere is the man
Sheer and trost bernier is in third get the women out of there …ambrose is a good intrim but not permanent i know alot of men and women that will not vote for a woman.
I don’t know any. One of us is hanging out with the wrong crowd.
says you. some people are traditional and understand women are susceptable to emotional maniplation a lot more than men
My objection is not just applicable to this one example. Yes, it seems unjust to me that Canadians as a whole pay more for certain goods so that a certain sub-set of Quebec farmers can work their little farms. Removing this protection may result in a net benefit for Canadians as a whole. A few people suffer but more people benefit.
However, in general, when we decide to import cheap goods from somewhere else, that removes those jobs from the Canadian economy. For the sake of argument let’s say that a quantity of people are no longer employed.
Those people go on the job market and compete with other people for jobs. They take the jobs they can, and displace other people. Eventually a certain smaller quantity of people, with the least amount of skill and experience, are unemployed. All classic free market reality. Given no other changes these people are now wards of the state since we have a welfare system.
So, by importing marginally cheaper goods we have displaced the weakest wage earners in our society into becoming dependent upon the state, with all the moral ills and costs that this entails. So we may pay less for certain goods, but more in taxes to support welfare dependents.
I used to be a complete free trade, “free to choose”, type person. Careful study indicates to me that this is not always the best policy. In general, free trade results in the most wealth and prosperity for all. But there are financial and social cases where it is not.
Taking away a province’s power to regulate its economy centralizes power in the hands of the federal government seems to me to be a bigger problem than some people in Quebec protecting their dairy farms. Note that the issues is created by a federal regulation that means we can’t just start some big efficient ones in Saskatchewan. Right? We could allow Quebecer’s to pay more to protect their dairy farms, while we buy cheaper cheese from efficient Saskatchewan farms. But the federal government protects the supply system.
And then the whole thing is ruled over by the transfer payment system. Quebec has crappy policies that make them a have not province, and if we make it worse, they just take more money.
Given the whole damn problem is created by federal regulations and laws, it seems to me the solution is not another federal regulation or law.
Hey Max! What about property rights, Max?
I am waiting to hear straight-forward talk about the fraudulent nature of political correctness in general and climate change in particular.
We had a government for almost ten years that missed a golden opportunity to campaign openly on what some might have whispered behind closed doors.
I think we all know that. But those who are not afraid are apparently also not electable. I know I’m not (afraid, or electable).