Booze

Carney has asked the premiers to stock US booze again.  I agree with this move, but Ford, Holt and Fréchette are resisting.  That's just dumb.  The Quebec premier has had her precious supply management scam protected, so the least she could do is put a little Jack Daniels on the odd shelf or two.

This would be a good move and show some good will.

As for Susan Holt, she's always struck me as just dim.  Ford, on the other hand, is a diehard blowhard, prone to gimmicky press conferences and running dumb ads in the US that set us back months, so I doubt he will immediately comply.  However, he will be forced to at some point; too much money at stake.

The customer, however, is free not to buy any American hooch.  People opposed can certainly stick to Canadian Rye and shitty wine.  Go ahead, make your point.  I personally don't care because I am a "cheap drunk", as the saying goes.  I shop by price -- although I draw the line at Smirnoff.

As for the "done" deal, as I understand it, the auto sector is still a sticking point.  If the late, great Bob White were still around, I predict he'd get it done.  He was the head of the UAW and the CLC in the eighties and a charmer to the back teeth.  

I ran into him in a bar back in 1984, when I was running federal communications for EXPO '86 and had to travel all over Canada promoting the fair.  Can't remember which city we were in, but I was sitting with my colleague, Angèle, going over strategy before a meeting the next morning and who was sitting at the next table?  Bob White and a couple of his boys.  We got to chatting and it was clear they wanted us to join them.  Bob was the instigator and kept chatting away.  "Why don't you girls (I was 37 at the time, so still technically "young-ish") join us," he kept saying, as he tried to buy us drinks.  We politely refused, but it was clear he had had much success in the charming lounge lizard department.

The charming Mr. White in action.

So, yes, I think Bob could have played a pivotal role in the auto negotiations currently running into sticking point after dead end.  I mean, the bulky, lumbering, ungainly Dominic Leblanc isn't a patch on Mr. White when it comes to mounting a charm offensive camouflaging a tough position.  And as for Janice Charette?  Her dreadful appearance speaks for itself.

Ah yes, those EXPO days were some of the most fun I had during my entire career.