Would Martin sell out supply management?

Will a multi-national prime minister protect Canadian farmers?

The New York Times quoted future Prime Minister Paul Martin as saying on Oct. 17 that he wants to push for an hemispheric free-trade zone, and "Agriculture is going to be on the table." He said in Calgary: "I think the massive agricultural subsidies of the United States are totally distorting markets throughout the world. "

He added: "Between the American agricultural subsidies and the European agricultural subsidies we are not only making it impossible for poor countries to rise out of poverty, but they are totally distorting the entire trade structure."

But how can Martin bully the biggest bully of all into dropping subsidies without making concessions to them? Both poor countries and the Americans have asked for an end to protected markets, such as supply management. Would Martin give that up?

To get some insight into Martin’s modus operandi, look at how Martin as finance minister handled himself and his shipping companies. Canadian Steamshiplines has its head office in Montreal, but CSL International.has its head office in a file folder in a lawyer’s office in Barbados, which in turn is owned by a company in Bermuda, which is nothing more than paper in a law office. In Bermuda employees typically come to work on their mopeds in the morning and probably don’t even know of their connection to the next prime minister of Canada.

Martin moved CSL International to Barbados in 1994 when he was Liberal finance minister. Prior to the move he complained that large corporations were not paying their fair share of taxes. CSL International would have been among those not paying their share, because it was then registered in Liberia and brought its profits back to Montreal, avoiding all income tax in Canada.

Martin stopped large corporations from getting a tax break if they were registered in one of more than 20 countries, including Liberia. But when the new law came out, tacked on was a strangely worded clause that allowed his shipping line to sneak away without paying Canadian taxes by registering in Barbados. In one year alone Martin took $7 million from Canadians, which is the amount CSL International would have paid in taxes here to bring $25 million in profits back to his head office in Montreal.

But Martin’s shipping line wasn’t alone. Banks, insurance companies and mining companies have also set up file folder offices in Barbados. While some might argue it’s good business sense to move a company to Barbados to avoid taxes, it’s quite another matter when the owner of the company creates the law. Under Trudeau, Martin would have been forced to resign for "appearance of conflict of interest."

Last year, an amendment to the Pension Benefits Standards Act allowed CSL to take out a $165 million surplus in the pension account of its employees and give only half the money to them. The company took $82.5 million of employee pension money and kept it for itself. It’s all legal. But is it ethical? Of course not.

When it comes to free trade, agriculture included, Martin is going to be asking himself, "What’s in it for me?" Would he score international popularity points by giving up supply management, among other things, to decrease trade barriers? A man interested mainly in himself would do it.

Martin’s no Joe Canadian. He’s a multi-national man.

P. A. Meagher