US President Obama is dangerously out of step. His pre-election anti-free trade rhetoric it seems was sincere, and he seems willing to chart a course not only in contravention of NAFTA, but contrary to the unanimous agreement reached by the G-20 nations.

His $819-billion stimulus package includes a provision that would require U.S.-made steel and iron to be used for infrastructure projects.

Many Canadian observers predicted months ago that Canada would soon begin feeling the impact of the economic troubles hurting the USA; and that some of that pain would be transferred across the border and drag us deeper into the recessionary swamp.

The heated debate during Question Period in the House yesterday verified those predictions.

Should this US legislation pass without a 'Canadian exemption' clause, it's already predicted that at least two thousand jobs could be lost in Quebec alone and numerous others all across Canada. Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day said that we don't want to start retaliatory trade wars.

We must remember—and we ought to remind our MPs—that it was not the market crash of 1929 that caused the Great Depression; it was a severe liquidity shortage caused by the banks holding onto their remaining assets (which is happening again now) severely exacerbated by the Smoot-Hawley trade bill that raised the walls of U.S. protectionism against the whole world. There is no way around it. The flow of dollars into an economy is dependent on international trade. Protectionism turns off the pipe, and stops the flow. It is short-sighted trade policy that would deepen the economic woes felt on both sides of the border.

The thrust of negotiations right now must be towards viewing North America as one market; and to replace "Buy American" or "Buy Canadian" with a policy that says, "Buy the materials for infrastructure projects where the wage, labour safety, environmental standards are similar". That would create a level playing field, while giving the infrastructure programs of both nations the advantage of seeking the best combination of quality and price, coupled with the assurance that domestic economies in both nations would have a chance to benefit from taxpayers' investment.

And then, when the troubles are over, we'll still be friends and close trading partners. Let's hope that our PM uses his opportunity of Feb. 19 to make our case clearly.