Bug Off, Eh?

One thing you can say for the Canadians, they've got chutzpah.  Among their bargaining chips at NAFTA renegotiations is the requirement for the US to dismantle the right-to-work laws that have been passed in a majority of states:

From The Globe and Mail:

One group of negotiators spent all day Sunday working on the labour file, according to a schedule of the talks obtained by The Globe and Mail. One source familiar with the discussions said Canada wants the United States to pass a federal law stopping state governments from enacting right-to-work legislation; the source said the United States has not agreed to such a request. Canada believes that lower labour standards in the United States and Mexico, including right to work, give those countries an unfair advantage in attracting jobs.

Jerry Dias, the leader of Canada's largest private-sector trade union, said Ottawa's negotiators are: pushing Mexico on its corporate-sanctioned unions, which are accused of negotiating collective agreements unfavourable to workers; agitating for both countries to offer a year of paid family leave, as Canada does; and targeting American right-to-work laws that allow workers in unionized shops to refuse to pay dues, draining money from unions.

"I'm very pleased with the position the Canadian government is taking on labour standards," Mr. Dias, president of Unifor, told reporters outside the talks. "Canada's got two problems: The low wage rates in Mexico and the right-to-work states in the United States."

There's audacious, there's egregious, and there is political extortion.

That a country with a population roughly equivalent to that of California is demanding the passage of a federal law in the United States is a bit...much. Worse yet, it is a law that shifts powers from the states to Washington, which is never a good idea.

Look, I love Canada and the Canadians--but let's face it, they're lefties.  They don't have a "small government" major political party up in Canada, despite the fact that one of them is called the Conservative Party.  Their government's position is that unions are a priori a good thing--yet one wonders why American workers and states keep passing on them!

If Canada wants to compete, perhaps they should get rid of their unions!  Perhaps they should lobby the Mexicans for a Canada-level minimum wage--oh, and good luck with that, Canucks.

Let's say they're actually serious about this, and not just grandstanding.  What happens if the US Supreme Court rules in a manner to my liking on the Janus and Yohn cases, assuming they make it that far?  This NAFTA treaty requirement would impose a clearly unconstitutional requirement, and would thus be null and void.

I've read that the Canadians were jealous that the US elected a flashy leftist in 2008, so now they've elected their own.  As far as I'm concerned, the Canadians can keep both of them.