Free trade or Fair trade

[Oscar]

Free trade or Fair trade

August 30, 2016

To the Editor,

This letter is not meant to be a wholesale criticism of how corporations use the two terms - Fair trade or Free trade. The latter may not always be free or fair.

This concern is being expressed because it is generally assumed by individuals that corporations [including global corporations] of today can have more power or influence on our elected government officials than the average Canadian voter.

Free Trade appears to be a favourite corporate term. Is that supposed to indicate that when two corporations are discussing matters of trade, it is naturally assumed that any agreements made by the two parties are fair to any other stakeholders that may be affected by the decisions of those corporations?

It is a fairly well established fact that the gap between 1% of the world's wealthiest people is increasing at the expense of the remaining 99%.

John Ralston Saul is a well known Canadian author. In his book, “The Doubter's Companion”, Saul revealed a statement made by a newspaper baron at a world conference in Davos, Switzerland. This man stated that the reason people are poor was due to indolence. Yes, "indolence". He explained that ten percent of Americans make a living from food stamps and social welfare fraud. He suggested that if these people worked harder, they would no longer need that help. So that the wealthy could receive greater monetary rewards for their efforts.

Obviously, life is not free or fair to everyone. It certainly would appear that the world's wealthiest are doing well enough, without having to take away life-sustaining programs for oppressed and poverty-stricken families.

Leo Kurtenbach,
Saskatoon.
Phone: 306-652-5129