A new study looks at how NAFTA has prevented Canadian governments from doing what their voters wanted.
Modern free trade pacts are about more than trade. That’s been known for a long time. When Canadians were debating free trade with the U.S. in the late 1980s, those challenging the proposed pact warned that it would neuter governments’ ability to act in the public interest. That charge was repeated in the ’90s during debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement, which linked Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The just-completed Canada-European Union free trade pact has sparked similar concerns. So has a recently ratified investment protection agreement with China. And critics worry that the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement talks — which involve the U.S., Japan and smaller Asian nations like Vietnam — will do the same.
Photo: ‘Free Trade’ by Christopher Dombres under the license CC by 2.0