Open World vs. Closed World - EU vs Canada
On the heals of Canada finally getting the OK to bid on US contracts funded by the US Stimulus package's "Buy American" clause it appears the European Union wants similar concessions from Canada for their member countries to bid on all things governmental in Canada, right down to the level of municipalities and school districts. There's push-back from some in Canada
Now don't get me wrong - I'm all in favour of open trade. In fact I like a lot of what the European Union has done to open up things like travel and business opportunities in Europe and I think that the US/Canada relationship should be much the same. This even includes the concept of shared currency and easier border crossing, in contrast to the more recent tightening up of the border. If the Americans won't open their border, then I really think we should be looking both to Europe and to the East.
But then I'm a bit (a lot) of an idealist in some things like this.
The story on Embassy Magazine's site quotes Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Public Service Alliance Canada (PSAC) position papers which in effect defend Canada's (union dominated) public service's right to "use taxpayers' money to benefit taxpayers" in protecting job creation, community economic development and economic renewal through purchasing policies. In effect they're saying we should purchase locally in order to ensure the local economy, rather than purchasing from the lowest bidder.
This closed-view of world economics is no longer viable in today's global economy. We deal at great distances in today's information economy because the internet is open and for the most part does not discriminate by physical location. Transportation has changed to gear itself to moving goods directly from producer to consumer - mostly bypassing the middle-men of jobber, wholesaler, retailer, and in the process both cutting time to deliver and cost to the end consumer.
As an example, my good friend David Ingram decided one day he wanted to order 1000 of the "blended" US/Canada flags he loves giving to his cross-border customers. He sent an image of one to a flag manufacturer in China, received a quote, gave the go ahead, and received his 1000 flags in 13 days. His long-time local supplier here in the Vancouver area, a retail store well known for carrying all manner of flags and such, had not gotten back to him with a quote before the flags from China were delivered; and when the quote came in, it was for almost triple what he actually paid.
So to CUPE and PSAC I say - no, I'd rather my government deal with the lowest cost supplier of goods and services because at the end of the day lowering my tax-funded costs will end up putting money back into my pocket as lower taxes and that is far better than continuing to fund more and more hoards of low efficiency but local businesses. If I have more money in my pocket then I'm going to be the one helping the local economy by purchasing more services and such from whoever locally has the ones I want - thus stimulating the economy far more than government can in the long run.
richard
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