The realities facing the future of New Brunswick and the larger Atlantic Provinces are stark: young people leave for opportunity elsewhere, mills are closing, resource depletion and an environment that is getting more and more loaded with pollutants. All of these trends call for action. The region and it's people have to reverse this course if we are to offer a decent life for future generations.
Once again we see that the current NB Liberal Government does not understand the word 'democracy', nor does it understand that it is expected to govern in the interests of the people, not private business.
The economy has radically changed since the era when Adam Smith championed the 'upstart' businessmen who dared to challenge the merchant monopolies that dominated the economy of his day. For Smith, the government created monopoly distorted the market, and granted unfair privilege and power to one sector of the population. In his view, this privilege could not be justified. It is highly unlikely Smith could have foreseen the day when private power would become so great that it would be possible for mega-corporations to sue governments for damages, and win! For reasons Similar to Smith's, I view NAFTA as a means by which Canada institutionalizes its subordination to American corporations.
On March 22nd, 2008, Adolfo Gonzalez Montes, was murdered. He was a worker at the Cerrejon Coal Mine in Colombia, and also a union leader with the National Union of Coal Mine Workers. He left behind a wife and four children.
