Damn Americans

OK, there is the caffufle with the whole "runaway production" thing where the Americans are whining about film production being done in Canada because it is cheaper to do here. My reaction to this is a big Pierre Elliot Trudeau one-finger salute pointed south. Our film industry has been hobbled since the 1920's thanks to our unwilling inclusion in the American film distribution system's "domestic" market. If a Canadian filmmaker makes a Canadian film for Canadian consumption it gets distributed in Canada as if it were a foreign film. Is that fair? I think not. Fuck American cultural imperialism. If we are part of the "domestic" market for consumption of film then don't bitch if some of these "domestic" films happen to be shot and produced here.

Not that it is entirely the American's fault. If our own politicians had the good sense to impose film quotas like every other country on Earth and back out of the 80-year old "deal" that got us stuck in the "domestic" distribution market we would have a viable domestic market of our own.

And then there is the frigging softwood lumber thing. Free trade my ass. So what if our lumber is cheaper? So is our electricity. This country is covered with trees and rivers. I don't see anyone in Washington crying for a 20% tariff on Canadian hydroelectricity. Let's just see what would happen to NYC or LA if all the gigawatts of electricity genreated in Canada that they consume were suddenly to cost 20% more. NYC was blacked out once when an overload caused a relay to pop in Québec. What if we decided to throw that same switch on purpose?