United We Fall
You have to look at the impact of the free trade agreement between the US and Canada. They are good for some strong sectors, but not at all for poor working people who don’t benefit from corporate profits. In Canada, for example, two-thirds of Canadian households have experienced a decline in real income since the signing of the bilateral free trade agreement with the United States.
NAFTA also forced 2 million small Mexican farmers off their land. Some have migrated to the cities, and about 500,000 people try to enter the United States illegally each year in search of work. So not so great for people at the bottom of the social ladder.
One of Canada and Mexico’s biggest concerns about NAFTA is that it could open up capital to U.S. multinationals. If you are a large company and you are considered a national in any country, you automatically have the rights of a citizen of that country, and as a citizen you can challenge the laws of that country.
