of them all...natural resources. And a lot of them. So much so that we have too much. Some might say well, if we have too much then why have natural gas prices in Toronto have quadrupled. This is because of the American demand to the south; Canada may not sell their natural gas to their citizens cheaper than what is being charged south of the border because of NAFTA. So instead of lowering the price of gas the government gives tax rebates to low income households who would have trouble paying for the rising cost of energy. In Alberta, for instance, they are giving more than one billion dollars in natural gas rebates. Now with our abundance of energy, Canada is poised to wrangle with the Americans over what they can or cant have.Every time Canada enters into another trade agreement with anyone, we lose some degree of independence. The US is the best example though. NAFTA made it very easy for Canada and the US to trade, so easy in fact that figures show that between 1991 and 1995 exports from the US to Canada almost doubled. After NAFTA Canadas and the US economies operate as if they were one. That fact can be very beneficial or very detrimental. It can be beneficial when the US economy is booming, then our economy booms. But when the US economy slows down, the Canadian economy slows down too. Unfortunately our economic dependance on the US is only growing. With the Summit of the Americas and now the US energy initiatives, Canada is put in a very precarious position where we have to weigh our desire to be an economically independently wealthy nation or dependant of our economic super-power to the south. Hopefully, we can safely achieve both. In either scenario, we have to be conscientious of our resources. Canadas vast landscape cannot be molested so that the US can use automobiles for another fifty years. Right now there is cause for concern. The US president Bush has said that he is going to pull out of the Kyoto protocol to mandator...
