Keith MacDonald, president of the Thompson Chamber of Commerce, is asking Mayor Tim Johnston and the rest of city council to join with provincial and federal chambers by appealing to representatives in the United States concerning President Barak Obama's "Buy American" plan.
MacDonald is the general manager of both the Thompson Inn and Burntwood Hotel owned by Manfred Boehm.
The plan is an economic stimulus package that would look to stop American use of foreign-made goods such as steel, iron, textiles and manufactured products. According to representatives from the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, who have been lobbying the Canadian government to ask Obama to reverse the measure, says the plan could have a "catastrophic" affect on the country. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an $819 million stimulus package that would bar Canadian iron and steel from infrastructure projects receiving the stimulus funds.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the U.S. action is a "serious matter and a serious concern to us." China, India and the European Union have all warned that protectionist barriers such as the one Obama is introducing would put world trade at a disadvantage, and Harper says he expects the US to respect its free trade commitments. Bob Rae, Liberal foreign affairs critic, has even gone so far as to call the position taken by the American congress illegal. Ken Neumann, the United Steelworkers union national director for Canada, says he thinks Canadian steel would get an exemption from the U.S. preferential buying policy because the industry is integrated.
MacDonald says that the mayor of North Bay, Ont., Victor Fedeli, has started a tactic looking to elicit a response using a "mayor- to-mayor" approach. Fedeli sent three letters to the mayors of three U.S. cities last month where the city of North Bay made large purchases recently, asking them to think about how the "Buy American" initiative will affect them. Letters were also sent to suppliers. Fedeli also asked the federal, provincial and local chambers of commerce across the country to approach their respective mayors and communities. MacDonald has provided council with a letter template to send out.
"With the unveiling of the new garbage truck, our question was, was that bought in Canada or was it bought outside of Canada?" MacDonald says. "I did some telephone conversations and they said that it was purchased from a Canadian distributor but the actual manufacturer was in the U.S."
City council has referred the matter to the legislative and intergovernmental affairs committee.
According to Statistics Canada, $5.8 billion Canadian-made iron and steel products were exported to the United States in 2007. NDP leader Jack Layton is suggesting the nation respond with a "Buy Canada" policy as part of our government's stimulus package.
