Aiding and abetting

I gave the federal Libs the benefit of the doubt and didn't throw any blame their way when Gordon Campbell decided to take a stand in favour of capitulation. But now that the predominant large-L Liberal provincial government in the country has joined those who don't think extortion is worth opposing, there isn't much room for doubt which party is actually defending Canada's interests against Harper, and which one is still looking for excuses to fold with the upper hand.

That said, whether or not the current coalition of Lib provincial governments and federal Cons is enough to push Canadian lumber producers to sign onto the deal, it's worth keeping in mind just where the Cons' deal came from, how it's been pushed so far, and what it means for the bigger-picture relationship between Canada and its current government.

Remember first that the Libs themselves had a relatively similar deal ready for an announcement last fall...which was pushed until after the election by the same minister now carrying the lead on the Cons' file based on the fact that it would be (rightly) seen as a sellout.

Once the Cons took power, they made an agreement of some sort into the sole requirement. And to make sure no pesky Canadian demands could stand in the way, the Cons took the U.S.' side and systematically excluded Canadian interests from the bargaining table, while the leading American voice was consulted throughout the negotiations.

Of course, the deal in principle still had to be hashed out. And the Cons had negotiated so poorly that the U.S. figured it was worth trying to find ways to win even more ground while filling in the details. Which, judging from the outcome, they succeeded in doing, as Canada's great "progress" now being trumpeted by Gordon Campbell included merely winning the right to study just how much the added burdens created by implementation of the agreement will harm Canadian industry.

Having predictably reached a terrible deal through this process designed to achieve agreement through a steady stream of concessions, the Cons then went about trying to sell it. After they finally realized that nobody was buying an attempt to claim the deal was actually positive, they eventually settled on their recent strategy of claiming that it's the least among evils - and publicly derided Canada's continued success in litigation as part of the process. Of course, even if the "lesser of the evils" argument were true, that could only be so due to the Cons' own threats to undermine the Canadian lumber industry if it wouldn't play along.

In light of that consistent record of the Cons siding against the Canadian lumber industry, it may well be understandable for the industry to decide the least of the evils is to accept a defeat which would have been entirely avoidable with a more reasonable government in charge - better to accept the Cons losing their shirt at the bargaining table than to find out whether Harper is crazy enough to burn their entire wardrobe out of spite.

While I still hold out hope that the industry will realize it can do better litigating for itself, PMS may ultimately succeed in finalizing the agreement - particularly now that he has Lib voices once again joining in the trained-seal chorus of "we can't do better". But even if he wins the fight he picked with his own country, that doesn't let him off the hook for causing it in the first place. And if the Libs are willing to once again side against Canada as well, then there's all the more reason for Canadian voters to start turning their eyes and their votes elsewhere.