Friday, April 28, 2017

Protecting Canada's Diary Industry


“U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on cross-border trade Thursday, repeating his criticisms of Canada’s dairy industry but expanding his rhetoric to condemn lumber and energy.”                                                        
                       - Financial Post – April 20, 2017

     I don’t know much about America’s new president but I think perhaps he is mistaken when it comes to Canada and things Canadian.
     For example, the other day, President Trump was speaking in Wisconsin and he chided Canada’s diary industry. I think that was entirely unfair.
     Yes, we have a strong and thriving diary industry peopled by countless Canadian scriveners who keep diaries but that’s no reason to take a shot at our homegrown diarists.
     Our diary industry pales in comparison to that in the United States although I must point out with a modicum of national pride that, on average, our diaries our far better written and definitely more readable. Furthermore, I am unaware of any government subsidization or supply management of the Canadian diary industry. As far as I know, our diarists are on their own when it comes to their individual daily word production.
     Why folks in Wisconsin in particular are upset about Canadian chroniclers is a mystery to me. I’ve never known Wisconsinites to be big journalers so it’s passing strange that they would want to limit our ability to record our daily thoughts and activities.
     Apparently Mr. Trump is also upset about oft good slumber. Really, is it any business of his that we manage to frequently get a good night’s sleep? Is it wrong of us to enjoy the occasional afternoon nap? Are we to blame for the fact that a primarily winter-bound country is destined to sleep better than most?
     Maybe the U. S. president is simply jealous of our sleeping abilities and wishes that he, too, could easily drift off into dreamland like we do. Rather than castigate us for our snoozing capabilities, it might serve him better to investigate why Canadians are world class hibernators. In fact, I’m sure many of us would be more than willing to share our siesta secrets if it could help to narrow any perceived slumber gap between our two nations.
     Finally, Mr. Trump also signaled out synergy as another trade irritant between our two countries. Silly me; I thought that synergy was what we had achieved with America by our cooperative economic efforts. I didn’t know that Americans were suffering a synergy deficit.
     President Trump seems to be adamant that the root of these so-called problems is BAFTA. For the life of me, I don’t understand how the British Academy of Film and Television Arts creates a problem for Americans in general and Wisconsin residents in particular.
     Perhaps he views that organization’s annual BAFTA awards as a threat to the sanctity of the Oscars. Personally, I don’t get it. Not that many folks are familiar with the BAFTAs, particularly here in Canada where the average citizen isn’t even aware of our own Genie awards for film and television. But if it will help, I’m sure Canada would be willing to boycott the BAFTA awards. In the interests of good international relations, it’s the least we can do.

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