US Lobbyist: If Canada Just Implemented US-Style Copyright Law, US Would Drop 'Buy American' Provisions

Politics

from the uh...-what? dept

We’ve seen the ridiculous pressure that lobbyists and diplomats have been putting on Canada to put in place significantly more draconian copyright law, without any evidence that it’s needed and even though it’s opposed by the vast majority of Canadian citizens. However, now things are just getting bizarre. A totally separate issue involving Canadian and US trade is that Canada is (reasonably) upset by various “buy American” provisions that are being pushed by various local governments despite the fact that anyone with any economic knowledge at all recognizes that “Buy American” provisions do more harm to American interests. This is an important issue, and there are lots of ways to address it. But it’s flat-out ridiculous to believe that the “answer” to the Buy American issue is for Canadians to capitulate to American interests in implementing much more draconian copyright law. And yet, that’s exactly what an American lobbyist just told a Canadian Parliamentary gathering recently.

Scotty Greenwood, an American lobbyist with a history of serious conflicts of interest in her dual role as a lobbyist and as an executive director of the Canadian-American Business Council, spoke at the gathering and offered what she believed is a simple solution: Canadian politicians “could solve Buy America tomorrow,” if they just agreed to capitulate on copyright, even though the two issues have absolutely nothing to do with one another. Luckily, Canadian copyright expert Howard Knopf was on hand to ask Greenwood how that could possibly make any sense at all. Apparently, the only answer he got was that Canada should implement the copyright law demanded by American lobbyists because it’s “in Canada’s best interest.” Uh huh.

Of course, it’s pure fantasy to claim that by implementing draconian copyright law in Canada that most people want, the “Buy American” issue will go away. In most cases, Buy American is not being pushed by the federal government, but by more local politicians who have a more populist position (i.e., protecting the jobs of local workers). They couldn’t care any less about copyright in Canada. But, it does show just how low the copyright lobby has stooped to push more draconian copyright laws in Canada, when they’re now trying to tie it to a totally different trade issue.

Filed Under: buy american, canada, copyright, scotty greenwood, trade policy