McKenna: I've Got A Beef With You
According to cnews, Canada's Ambassador to the US, Frank McKenna, is once more trying to rally Canadian expats living in the US to do some of his work.:
First: while guests in a foreign country, it is rude to get in the face of your hosts. Expats are better served blending in and getting with the local program. American co-workers and neighbors want just that: co-workers and neighbors, not pompous little ambassadors. Getting out your soapbox at the neighborhood block parties and at the office while quickly turn you into a shunned outcast. It is considerably arrogant to assume that your Canadian point-of-view is worth shoving down someone else' throat - in their own country. In some places, it can cost you your job. Just because you have the right to speak freely doesn't always mean it's smart to speak up.
Two: Canadians living in the USA are getting a real taste of democracy, and once they've had it, they'll be less inclined to be vapid mouthpieces for the power-hungry socialist kleptocracy that has been ruining this fair land for the last 30 years. Give your head a shake, Mr. Ambassador. You are assuming that the expats agree with you. Could be that some of them had a good reason for leaving. Better check that one out.
Third: if the border won't open to live cattle, then why don't we just get off our asses and export beef. That's right. Ensure there is auditability. Make it all very transparent and state-of-the-art. Invite Japanese to inspect to their heart's content, if they wish. We build processing plants. The plants compete, and export. Seems straightforward. We compete.
Mr. Ambassador, drop this expat nonsense, and have a look see at why Canada is not a place where an entrepreneur can take advantage of the closed border. My god, is that possible? Take advantage? Compete? Could it be your beloved socialist great white miracle doesn't incent risk-taking and aggressive and innovative business undertakings? (Hint: it may if you've provided sufficiently fat envelopes to the right capo - then you get a grant or subsidized loan and get to gamble with our money).
Typical Canadian response to a difficulty: run to nanny state to fix it. Only this time, it's Canada trying to run to nanny neighbor (you know, the one that we doll-stomp on TV), hoping to get 3 million expat whiners to join the chorus and bend their will. Know what? That crap doesn't wash in the USA.
Let's just shut up and compete like hell, dammit.
Now he wants some of the two to three million expatriate Canadians living in the United States to help.I spent 10 years living the USA, and was a Canadian expat. On this basis I have the following comments to the Ambassador:
First: while guests in a foreign country, it is rude to get in the face of your hosts. Expats are better served blending in and getting with the local program. American co-workers and neighbors want just that: co-workers and neighbors, not pompous little ambassadors. Getting out your soapbox at the neighborhood block parties and at the office while quickly turn you into a shunned outcast. It is considerably arrogant to assume that your Canadian point-of-view is worth shoving down someone else' throat - in their own country. In some places, it can cost you your job. Just because you have the right to speak freely doesn't always mean it's smart to speak up.
Two: Canadians living in the USA are getting a real taste of democracy, and once they've had it, they'll be less inclined to be vapid mouthpieces for the power-hungry socialist kleptocracy that has been ruining this fair land for the last 30 years. Give your head a shake, Mr. Ambassador. You are assuming that the expats agree with you. Could be that some of them had a good reason for leaving. Better check that one out.
Third: if the border won't open to live cattle, then why don't we just get off our asses and export beef. That's right. Ensure there is auditability. Make it all very transparent and state-of-the-art. Invite Japanese to inspect to their heart's content, if they wish. We build processing plants. The plants compete, and export. Seems straightforward. We compete.
Mr. Ambassador, drop this expat nonsense, and have a look see at why Canada is not a place where an entrepreneur can take advantage of the closed border. My god, is that possible? Take advantage? Compete? Could it be your beloved socialist great white miracle doesn't incent risk-taking and aggressive and innovative business undertakings? (Hint: it may if you've provided sufficiently fat envelopes to the right capo - then you get a grant or subsidized loan and get to gamble with our money).
Typical Canadian response to a difficulty: run to nanny state to fix it. Only this time, it's Canada trying to run to nanny neighbor (you know, the one that we doll-stomp on TV), hoping to get 3 million expat whiners to join the chorus and bend their will. Know what? That crap doesn't wash in the USA.
Let's just shut up and compete like hell, dammit.
posted by SleepsOnGrates at 8:29 PM
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