An alleged CNN report entitled, “What’s the Big Deal, eh?” has enraged Canadians coast-to-coast in its flippant coverage of the softwood lumber dispute. The United States (US) owes Canada $5 billion in taxes that were illegally imposed (according to North American Free Trade Agreement rules), and it looks like Americans just couldn’t care less about paying the bill.

The tense situation has inspired a British Columbian kid, by the name of Luke McAndless-Davis, to hit Uncle Sam where it hurts. Luke, with the help of his parents and an Albertan friend, is organizing a nation-wide boycott of America’s most prominent corporation, McDonald’s. He believes that if the millions of Canadian customers get their fast food somewhere else for just one day, the US will take notice and respect our demand for the $5 billion. So far, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the National Union of Public and General Employees, and the B.C. Carpenter’s Union have all endorsed the boycott and feature links to the campaign homepage on their websites.

So how can we help Luke make his crusade a success? Don’t buy McDonald’s on December 3rd! Or, in the words of the campaign manager himself, “Yo Yo Yo give us our dough; No Mc-D on December 3!” T-shirts, stickers and flyers are all available via the We Want Our Money Back website (http://www.wewantourmoneyback.ca/index.html). The website also offers a means to join the campaign.
Come on Canada! Don’t you think one McDonald’s-less day is worth $5 billion and our national pride? What’s the big deal, indeed.

Source for additional information
Softwood Lumber Dispute – http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/softwood_lumber/