XPost: can.politics, ab.politics, edm.general   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   On 12/11/2014 10:45 AM, Roy wrote:   
   > Most likely our magnanimous government will open up even more "Trade   
   Offices" in order to sell even more of our cheap natural resources to the   
   world.   
      
   Two problems with that:   
   1.  There's a glut of oil out there now, and the prospective customers that   
   Harper & Alberta had their eyes on are closer to alternative sources like Saudi   
   Arabia and Iran and Iraq.  As soon as the dust clears, you can bet China and   
   India and Pakistan will be buying their oil from middle east countries - not   
   Canada or the U.S.   
   And the opposition to pipelines in Canada is growing - not just on the west   
   coast anymore, but in Ontario, Quebec and even in the maritimes.   
      
   2.  The Harper government just promised Alberta $2.27 Billion from the Federal   
   Gas Tax Fund - 'to help with infrastructure that will enable resource exports'.   
   That's tax dollars from every Canadian in this country towards Alberta's   
   fracking up more earth to sell oil tar to fuel-hungry countries.  Talk about   
   abuse of Canadian tax monies.   
      
      
   CURRENT STATUS OF INTERNATIONAL OFFICES   
   Alberta established its first international office in London in the early 1900s   
   to encourage immigration and trade. That important   
   effort saw the expansion of our province with the arrival of tens of thousands   
   of families who, generations later, still contribute to the   
   province’s success.   
      
   Since then, the London office and the international office program as a whole   
   has gone through numerous changes.   
   In the 1970s a network of high profile international offices was developed in   
   key markets, including London, Hong Kong, Tokyo,   
   New York and Los Angeles. These offices had a broad economic, political and   
   social mandate, and offered a range of programs   
   and services. In the 1990s, the international office program was restructured.   
   Some offices were closed and others rebuilt as   
   smaller offices in key economic markets. The offices were given a mandate to   
   promote Alberta’s economic interests. That mandate   
   remains today.   
      
   Locations   
   Today Alberta’s international offices are located in:   
      
   Hong Kong   
   Beijing   
   Shanghai   
   Taipei   
   Tokyo   
   Seoul   
   London   
   Munich   
   Mexico City   
   Washington, D.C.   
      
   Of the ten offices, eight are co-located in an embassy or consulate to benefit   
   from the resources and profile of the Canadian   
   Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Tokyo and Hong Kong   
   function as stand-alone officices.   
      
   http://www.calgaryherald.com/Prentice+calls+full+review+Alberta+   
   oreign+trade+offices/10141988/story.html   
      
   http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Prentice+shakes+foreign+trade+   
   ffices/10211861/story.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)