Buy American - A Threat to Canada's Economic Recovery

President Barak Obama Presents Jobs Plan

http://www.thespec.com/opinion/editorial/article/594360--fighting-buy-american-policies-again

Above is a link to a very good editorial in the Hamilton Spectator that emphasizes the impact to both Canada and the US economic recovery.
The problem with this plan is just as true for the American economy as it is for the Canadian economy.
For example, an American company that makes a water pump for a sewage treatment plant may source some of its component parts from Canada. Perhaps these parts make up 5% of the cost of the pump. Under the proposed legislation, the American company that is producing a 95% American manufactured product is disqualified from federally funded infrastructure projects.
This is not an unusual scenario. During the last go round, American companies that were negatively affected got busy organizing their protests against the unintended consequences of disqualifying Canadian content. A long list of major manufacturing organizations wrote letters to President Obama indicating their displeasure and asking for changes in the legislation.
Unfortunately, during the last Buy American program the deal that exempted Canadian content was only reached at the very end of the legislation's life and so the beneficial effects were minimal.
It would seem that legislators in Washington are uninformed of the true nature of the trading relationship between the US and Canada. There is an integration that exists that is quite remarkable. A product made in the US may use Steel that began in the US, traveled to Hamilton  for processing and then went back to the US for assembly. Yes, the product was assembled in the US and was predominantly produced there but the brief journey across the border contaminated the total product and disqualified its use in federally funded infrastructure.
When the issue is jobs, anything that strangles the US-Canada trading relationship is counter productive for both economies. Kudos to Minister Edward Fast for jumping on this issue immediately.

"Buy American" Resurfaces with Obama Jobs Plan

It comes as quite a surprise to learn of President Obama's "American Jobs Act" which was unveiled this week since it contains the same "Buy American" provisions that Canada fought against 2 years ago.
Pictured above is the Canadian firm, Hayward Gordon, located in Halton Hills. It was John Hayward who raised the alarm when Buy American was first introduced that effectively barred Hayward Gordon from doing business in the United States. This was a huge blow to this manufacturer of pumps used in major waterworks installations.
In response to Mr. Hayward's plight, Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette went on the offensive and introduced a counter-measure. Halton Hills Council amended its Purchasing By-Law to say that the Town would not buy any product from any company that was located in a country that had trade restrictions against Canada. In other words, as long as Buy American prevailed, Halton Hills would not purchase anything from the United States. We would buy from anywhere else but not the USA.
Of course this was a case of the "mouse that roared". But this small act of defiance was just the start of a bigger campaign to convince other Canadian municipalities to likewise strike back. There is a lot of buying potential when one considers all of the purchases that municipalities make across Canada. Collectively, they carry a big stick.
This pitch was made at the annual conference of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities where the delegates agreed to give 6 months for the issue to be resolved before FCM would encourage its members to follow the Halton Hills lead.
The net result was this threat became an effective tool in the toolkit of Stockwell Day who ultimately was able to win an exemption for Canada.
So here we go again. It is a big surprise because the last time around even the American Chamber of Commerce was writing the President to say how this was negatively impacting their members.
In the meantime, the Halton Hills Purchasing By-Law is still in effect, so watch out Obama!
See today's article by John Ibbitson of the Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trade-minister-vows-to-fight-latest-buy-american-measures/article2165668/

Solar Power Leaps Forward In Georgetown, Ontario

This photo taken at a roof top celebration at BRC Sustainable Elements on Armstrong Avenue in Georgetown, Ontario held on Aug. 31st, 2011.

This massive installation sits about 10 feet above the roof, supported by a steel grid.

Owner and President of Solarform, http://www.cdnsolarform.com/ Bill Melnik gave a rousing endorsement to the future of solar. In a reference to the concept of "Peak Oil" he reminded the audience of how the search for new oil has now reached to areas beneath the polar caps. The difficulty in securing new sources is creating larger and larger risks to the environment which in turn is driving up the cost of oil. On the other hand the cost of solar is trending downward, as innovation leads to greater efficiency. At this rate it is possible that solar and oil costs could reach a par within 5 years. If that were in fact to happen it would literally change everything in the energy world.

Just think of the possibility of solar panels on all of our industrial buildings that would be completely unobtrusive and completely free of risk to the environment. Compare this to the environmental degradation we are experiencing from our own tar sands projects in northern Alberta.

As I write this, Australia is proposing a carbon tax, undoubtedly because of the climate change related droughts of recent years. Japan is proposing its own version of the FIT program, in response to the tsunami.

If solar can go up in efficiency and down in price then it will most certainly become a major source of sustainable energy for all of us. As Bill Melnik said in his remarks, Solar is limitless and renewable without any nasty environmental side effects.

Canada has the opportunity to be a world leader in solar technology and Ontario is in the vanguard. And apart from the environmental benefits, the high tech jobs are the icing on the cake.

Innovative Solar Installation Celebrated in Georgetown Ontario

Solar Panel Installation at BRC in Georgetown

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a unique celebration that certainly illustrated the innovation  and creativity of its chief proponent and owner, Bill Melnik.

The celebration was held on the roof of the building in this photo. Guests climbed the stairs seen on the left  to a magical space atop BRC Sustainable Elements on Armstrong Avenue in Georgetown, Ontario.

Try to envision arriving on the roof deck to find a spotlessly clean spongy floor with a steel superstructure hovering above supporting hundreds of solar panels. That was cool just by itself, but now add in a live band and impeccable catering service and you have a special celebration that no one has experienced before.

This installation is unique, possibly in the world. One would normally expect the solar panels to be attached to the roof but that is not the case at BRC. In this application a new steel superstructure was constructed to support the massive solar array. The advantage is that when the roof needs to be renewed, it can be done without interference from the solar panels.

Bill Melnik owns both BRC and its building as well as the solar company, Solarform which did the installation. Another building further down Armstrong Avenue has just received the same treatment from Solarform and the building next door has just signed on as well.

The BRC installation covers the 35,000 sq. ft. building and is expected to generate 365 megawatts of electricity annually or enough power to service 30 homes. Annually this will save over 197 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Bill Melnik is a real believer in the future of solar energy. In his remarks he noted that Japan has started its own FIT program similar to Ontario's as it weans itself off of nuclear energy. In the past few years the efficiency of solar has improved by 20% and the cost has declined by 40%. At this rate of improvement he foresees solar becoming competitive with oil in as little as 5 years!

It would appear that Ontario is on the right track with its FIT program when it is obvious that it has triggered innovation and efficiencies within Ontario in this emerging technology.

Total Community Effort Recognized By Health Minister Deb Matthews

Health Minister Deb Matthews, in making her remarks to large gathering at Georgetown Hospital on August 31st,noted that although $2.6 million for Georgetown Hospital may sound like "a rounding error" in a budget the size of the Ministry of Health, the fact is that there are dozens of hospitals across the province that are asking for that same money. So why were we successful in getting the money when Halton Health Care has already received its fair share of the pie?

The Minister said that the "all out" community effort played a pivitol role in our success. In particular she noted Mayor Bonnette had been tenacious in pursuing the funding and that our Council's unanimous support via a special levy was very important in illustrating that we were all committed to the project and recognized it as a top priority for our community.

The Minister was also gracious in her remarks about the effort our MPP Ted Arnott had made to put this issue in front of the Ministry. Likewise she noted that our Liberal  Candidate, Councillor Moya Johnson had also spoken passionately to her about the importance of this project.

The people in the picture above all played key roles in making this funding a reality. From left to right John Fleming, Chair of the Board of Halton Healthcare, John Oliver, CEO HHC, Graeme Goebelle, Chair of Mississauga Halton LHIN, Dr. Don Trant, Minister Deb Matthews, Cindy McDonell, Georgetown Hospital Site Administrator, MPP Ted Arnott, Mayor Rick Bonnette, Councillor Moya Johnson, and seated in front Dr. Jeff Sutherland, chief of staff Georgetown Hospital.