EDITORIAL Steelworkers’ irony

It’s ironic that Gerard Docquier would come down so clearly against free trade. His comments as national director of the 160,000 Canadian members of the United Steelworkers of America seem to be an example of political ideology taking precedence over concern for the workers who make up the union.

“Quebec’s language policies and Atlantic and Western Canada’s attempts to achieve regional prosperity would likely be in jeopardy under the sinister Thatcher-Reagan conservative revolution that this deal represents,” said Docquier appearing before the House of Commons committee conducting hearings on free trade.

That kind of bombastic rhetoric adds little to the debate on free trade. What might have been more constructive would be for Docquier to explain how the 30,000 steelworkers who work in Canada’s mining industry — the largest segment of the union — and the 20,000 who work in the steel industry might fare if an agreement is not ratified.

Perhaps he could explain how members of the union in Atlantic Canada or Ontario will cope if protectionist measures such as those taken south of the border against Canadian uranium and potash are taken against Canadian zinc, copper or steel.

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