Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Apr 25/01) - Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew supports free trade and said her constituency office is open to all people despite the chain-link fence propped against her office's doorway during a protest last Saturday.
"They're entitled to their opinion but their opinion has nothing to do with that reality," she said.
Blondin-Andrew said the Summit of the Americas accomplished what it had set out to do by setting up a democracy clause as part of the final agreement.
Under that clause any country with an un-elected government would be barred from the table.
Blondin-Andrew also brushed aside Northern critics of free trade by saying the North's regulation regime will continue to be enforced.
"Not one (of the mining and gas companies staking out the North) could get around our tax system," she said.
"They're all subject to it," she said.
"They weren't happy with the taxes but they have to pay," she said.
Blondin-Andrew said the government is accosted on both sides. One side asking for stricter regulation regimes and the other asking for less.
"We have to maintain a balance," she said.
