Hello All,
IN BRIEF:
1. No, we are not discussing “how much better Canada is than India”.
2. While it would be nice to discuss “the mutually beneficial steps taken by both countries”, inasmuch as this is retrospective, it must be considered as ‘feel good’ rather than truly constructive (and I for one, am rather busy for too much of that).
3. My hope is that we can “identify the steps both countries could take to further their respective interests”, because I firmly believe the sustainable way forward in every endeavour, can be found by appealing to ‘mutually-beneficial, enlightened self interest’.
4. In furtherance of #2 and #3 above, and in consideration of the ideal of furthering rich, nuanced and complex positive relations between Canada and India, and Canadians and Indians for everyone’s benefit; this thread will hopefully be multi-faceted, and will likely not have any single focal point.
Some confusion stemming from; parallel topic discussions, the obligatory clarification of old issues, and the sharing of ‘hidden history’, must be tolerated, IMHO.
5. Just as prosperity is built on security, and military strength is built on economic fortitude, so too is strategic power made of ideological influence and the promulgation of a shared and well-informed, mature understanding. This explains the raison d’être for this ‘India-Canada: News and Discussion’ thread.
AT LENGTH:
I would contend that country-to-country comparisons are largely misleading and pointless, wherever and whenever they are made to ‘rank’ any given country above or below another. The legacies of differing histories, the travails of circumstance and the capricious way that resources and access to them have been bequeathed upon nations and the people living there, conspire to make such comparative rankings utterly stupid. This kind of thing is not generally useful, in any meaningful way IMHO. At the same time, I also believe that it certainly helps, in many ways, to ‘know the terrain’, so that one can identify, scope and capitalize on potential opportunities. This is the spirit in which I have posted the statistics that I have above.
Speaking as a Canadian, let me say that among my biggest gripes with my own country, is Canada’s over-dependence on trade with the US. Personally, I would like to see more trade with other countries, particularly in more easily shipped, high value-added products, rather than in bulky raw materials, which I think we export too readily in unrefined/unprocessed form – effectively exporting jobs and profit margins in the process.
Another thing that bothers me is what I would call undue influence from south of the border. This takes many forms. It manifests itself in (well-laundered) political campaign contributions to American-friendly politicians (who BTW can be found in both of the two largest political parties in Canada). Another (OT but
personally painful) example is the way food safety standards have been heavily eroded in Canada by American claims (under NAFTA and the GATT) that (formerly) stringent standards for pesticides residues in foodstuffs, amounted to Canadian trade protectionism (because higher allowable limits translate directly into profits for Dupont et al.). The cost of this has been higher cancer rates than would otherwise be the case (but hey, that’s profitable too). Just compare European limits for pesticides or hormone residues in food, to the old Canadian limits, and the much more lax new standards that have been established after successful American court action under NAFTA and GATT (i.e. ‘North American Free Trade Agreement’, and ‘General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade’).
Among the many things I admire about India, is her independence and freedom from such things. Just look at the ongoing MMRCA trials. This kind of competition could not have happened anywhere else in the whole world, ever. In Canada, for decades now, if the need arose for fighter aircraft, it was taken for granted that we would buy American. This was pretty much our only recourse, since PM Diefenbaker inexplicably announced the cancellation of the ‘Avro Arrow’ fighter aircraft program (a Mach 2-capable, delta-wing interceptor, of which the LCA Tejas bears an uncanny resemblance). For those BRF readers who don’t know (and I’m guessing that’s most of you), the ‘Avro Arrow’ was developed to the point of advanced prototypes, at great expense to Canadian taxpayers, and was proving to be a wondrous success (back in 1959!); only to be utterly destroyed – including the prototypes, parts and spares, *blueprints*, manufacturing jigs, EVERYTHING!!! Along with the Arrow’s cancellation, much of Canada’s cutting edge aerospace industry was simply subsumed into Boeing, Lockheed, Huges and NASA, et cetera. For more information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow or just take a look at her here…….
Notice the internal weapons bays and 'jagged delta-wing' leading edge in lieu of forward canards, for Mach 2 flight back in 1958! Iroquois engines were Canadian too!!