Canada, The 51st State

The following is a very odd exchange between Michael Ignatieff and Tony Clement, from Question Period yesterday:

Mr. Michael Ignatieff (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.):

Mr. Speaker, I make a habit of saying the same thing right across the country and the hon. member knows that.

Canadians are not buying cars and I did not get an answer to the question about protecting warranties for Canadian cars. I did not get an answer to the question about access to the credit facility, promised in December, not to be delivered in May. Why?

When will the government start doing its job, which is to protect Canadian taxpayers and Canadian auto-workers?

Hon. Tony Clement (Minister of Industry, CPC):

Mr. Speaker, what I did say yesterday was that when we get some details of what the Obama administration has planned for warranties, we are willing to look at that. We are extending credit through the secure credit facility. That will help auto parts makers.

Indeed, as I have said before, we have made loans available. GM has not asked for those loans. There are strict conditions attached to those loans and we will continue to apply those conditions.

When the hon. member stands up and says he is being consistent, I would like to ask the hon. member how consistent he is on the carbon tax, which he pushed on the previous leader of the Liberal Party and now tries to distance himself-- (emphasis mine)

It sure sounds to me like Tony is waiting for word from head office. The position of this government appears to be "We have no position but the position of the U.S. government". For the life of me, I can't understand why more Canadians aren't shocked by this. We don't have an independent government anymore, just a conduit for U.S. policy, even when, as with the auto pension issue, the conditions here are vastly different from those in the U.S. Pathetic.

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