The NDP Writes Me Back - Eventually

Some of you may remember I got a bit... exercised when I read that the federal government was considering a 30% tariff on bicycles. Being a good democratic citizen, I wrote my MP - a certain Mr. Ed Broadbent.

A month later (ahem) I finally got this response, which I now share with you:

Thank you for writing to Ed Broadbent.

The NDP disagrees with the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) action to impose a 30% surtax on imported bicycles. This surtax would penalize Canadian consumers unfairly; sabotage the financial prospects of hundreds of independent Canadian retailers, and make environmentally friendly transportation more expensive. From 1992 until recently, a 34% antidumping duty was placed upon imports of Chinese bicycles. This duty was rescinded in 2004 when an investigation by the Canadian Border Services Agency determined that no government influence is exercised on bicycle prices in China, and that the cost of production was, in fact, much lower than previously believed. Rescinding this duty has resulted in a considerable decrease in bicycle prices throughout the past year, a prospect welcomed by Canadian consumers.

This is an alternative type of transportation that we should be encouraging, given the fact that Canada has committed to reducing greenhouse gases.

The Canadian bicycle manufacturing industry consists of two factories in Quebec, employing a total of about 600 people. The domestic industry, such as it is, is merely an assembler of previously imported frames and components; most parts (80%, by one calculation) are imported.

Punitive measures against independent bicycle retailers and cyclists across Canada will not save these jobs. For years federal New Democrats have been urging the Liberal government to put in place a national jobs strategy that would address the effects of globalization; sadly, our calls for such an essential policy have been ignored. In the absence of such a strategy, thousands of jobs have been lost, particularly in the textile and softwood industries. The federal government must come up with a plan to help all such affected companies re-orient their market strategy, rather than enacting an ad hoc, surtax that is not in the public interest.

Thank you again for writing with your concerns on this important issue.

Sincerely,

So there we are then. Unlike their position on the oil industry, the NDP is capable of a sensible position.

(Just to be clear, I remain a comitted NDP voter. But I reserve the right to criticize them mercilessly for bad policy.)