Discussing Linda Mcquaig's article, Lost in the Global Shopping Mall,

        On the other side of the coin, there is a segment of society that feels that with this new trade agreement, the culture and values that benchmark Canadian society will be lost and eventually forgotten.  The argument’s biggest stake is that we’ve created stronger international legal rights for foreign corporations to protect their profits than we have for humans to be protected from torture and unjust imprisonment.” It is unfair to think that involvement in this kind of agreement comes without its drawbacks, but if you look at this arrangement from a certain perspective, it would appear that the Canadian government has made drastic changes to it’s trading habits in an effort to create more jobs in this country and keep the economy in a state of growth.

Along with these international laws comes the fear that we are becoming more of a policy taker than a policy maker.  It is not unreasonable to think that when two countries sign an agreement of this magnitude, sovereignty will be unaffected, but many fear that our ability to create individual laws separate from those in the US is now becoming more and more of a struggle.  Richard Lipsey feels, “The best way to strengthen Canada’s sovereign capacity, to further improve its social and cultural policies is to secure and enhance Canadian prosperity.”  In the past however, countries with very different social programs have traded successfully with one another without having to merge or jeopardize their own social programs or beliefs.             

Richard Rosencrance claims, “As more and more production by domestic industries takes place abroad, land becomes less valuable than the technology used to produce the goods.”  Both Rosencrance and Mcquaig feel that the state no longer has command over resources the way it did 20 or 30 years ago.  States are now seen negotiating with foreign and domestic corporations to draw them into their country to stimulate their own economic growth.  In turn, this disestablishment of borders has resulted in foreign companies and foreign labour being offered special privileges both economically and politically that domestic companies would not be granted.  

All in all, if you were to weigh out the costs and benefits of the free trade agreement, you would still be left with a murky perception of the situation.  When looking at it from a Canadian perspective, you have to consider that our economy greatly depends on exportation of goods, namely to the United States.  Free trade is a natural extension of a capitalist democracy and it is in our benefit to endorse and exploit the trade lines that we have been in business with since the time of our countries creation.  There is no doubt that these trade agreements bring a slight loss of sovereignty and social responsibility but in the end it is the economic prosperity that we receive from trading that helps to fund our governments, our social programs and ultimately keep our high standard of living.            

Bibliography

Higgott, Richard.  Contested Globalization: the changing context and normative challenges.  In Review of International Studies, 2000, 26, 131-153.

McQuaig, Linda, Lost in the Global Shopping Mall, Queens Quarterly, Vol.109/1 (Spring,2002); pp. 43-49

Mulroney, Brian.  The New Economic Environment, In Free Trade: Risks and Rewards, Montreal: McGill-Queen’s, 2000;pp. 253-258

Lipsey, Richard G. The Free Trade Deal and Canada’s Sovereignty: Are the Fears Justified, In Trade Monitor, No.8 November 1988; pp 1-10 

Rosencrance, Richard.  The Rise of the Virtual State, In Foreign Affairs, July 1996, Volume 75, No.4; pp.45-61

Salee, Daniel. NAFTA, Quebec, and the Boundaries of Cultural Soverignty, In, Joining Together, Standing Apart: National Identities after NAFTA, Netherlands, Kluwer Law International, 1997; pp 73-89

Weston, Ann.  The Development Impact of the NAFTA: A Canadian Perspective.  In NAFTA as a Model of Development.  Albany, State University of New York Press, 1995; pp.145-158 

Wilson, Michael.  Free Trade: Then and Now, In Free Trade: Risks and Rewards, Montreal: McGill-Queens, 2000; pp. 207-210

The Canadian Experience in Free Trade

                

Prepared By: Mark Finkelstein  (250089152)

Prepared For:  Politics 211, Professor Mellon

Date: Wednesday October 9th, 2002

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