BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
A Laurentian University student who believes Canada is being severely punished by NAFTA has been nominated by the Canadian Action Party to run in Sudbury.
Steven Crouter, 23, was actually supposed to run for the party in his hometown of Peterborough in 2004, but had to drop out because his wife became ill.
The second-year French and political science major says he's happy to be running in Sudbury in this election. Crouter says his professors are pretty impressed that he's become involved in politics.
The Canadian Action Party was formed in 1993 by former Pearson government cabinet minister Paul Hellyer, who thought that the United States had an unfair advantage in trade disputes.
"It's not fair. The North American Free Trade Agreement has tenants in it that say that if the Americans or Canadians or Mexicans dispute something that's going on, they can bring it to an independent tribunal," says Crouter.
"But if the independent tribunal says that 'Canada's right and you owe them billions of dollars back,' the Americans have the right to veto it, essentially, and say 'No, too bad'."
Crouter doesn't expect to become an MP, but he does want to raise awareness of trade issues in this city, especially the softwood lumber dispute.
"I love this country, and I do believe that I can do this. Giving the voters of Sudbury another option to the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP is something that maybe I'm called to do."
Crouter can be reached at 523-9008.
