By Armchair Mayor

The new trade agreement – wines and whines

Oct 3, 2018 | 7:21 AM

KAMLOOPS — WE CANADIANS have a lot of excellent traits. Honestly, though, we can be such whiners at times.

Led by the media, we’ve been whining away about how bad the new trade deal is with Mexico and the U.S. I do have one bone to pick with it myself.

Why is it called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA? Shouldn’t it be in alphabetical order — Canada-Mexico-U.S. Agreement, CanMUSA?

But did we really expect we wouldn’t have to give anything up? It is, after all, called a negotiation. In negotiations, we have to give something to get something.

From this inexpert observer’s perspective, it’s not the bad deal some are saying, though there are things in it that will directly impact business in Kamloops.

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The dairy industry will face a slightly higher percentage of American product in its midst. But Canada’s dairy producers will be compensated for any loss, and the supply-management system lives on.

U.S. wines — that’s wines without the ‘h’ — will now be on shelves alongside local wines in B.C. supermarkets. How that will play out in Kamloops has yet to be figured out by the City and by the retailers. Will space for B.C. wines shrink, or the overall space for wine be expanded? Will the City revisit its controversial zoning variance on wine?

The provincial government’s decision to allow B.C.-only wines on grocery-store shelves, remember, has been an irritant to U.S. producers from the start, so something had to give.

Any erosion of Canadian product monopoly is bound to have at least some impact on a protectionist environment. That’s free trade for you.

On the other hand, Canada held the line on dispute resolution and the sunset clause. And those ruinous tariffs on autos didn’t happen.

Analysts are saying that, overall, Canadian consumers will be big winners — more selection and the benefits of price competition.

The alternative to what we got, was no trade deal at all. And that would have been something to whine about. I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.