Foreign Affairs Issues to Watch this Session

(Embassy – Jeff Davis & Lee Berthiaume)

Since becoming the government in 2006, the Conservatives have pushed an aggressive free trade agenda, which is expected to increase with the death of Doha a few months ago. However, there have been questions about the government’s choice of partners for talks.

Over the past two-and-a-half years, negotiations with Jordan, Peru, Colombia, Panama, the Caribbean Community and the Dominican Republic were launched or are waiting to be started. The majority of these, including Jordan and Colombia, were widely regarded as more politically motivated then being of great economic benefit to Canada. Colombia in particular prompted sharp criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups.

The government did manage to conclude talks with Jordan, Peru, the European Free Trade Association – composed of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein – and Colombia before Parliament broke for the summer and election.

However, only the EFTA deal has made its way through Parliament, and even then, implementing legislation will have to be introduced and passed before the agreement comes into effect.

While the majority of these deals will pass uncontested, parliamentarians will likely try to throw some stumbling blocks at the government to stop the Colombia deal. And if the government doesn’t act to start making the EFTA agreement law soon, there could be grumbling coming from the Europeans.

Also on the trade front is the new Canada-European Union Trade and Investment Enhancement Agreement, launched just weeks ago at the Canada-EU Summit in Quebec city. This new deal, certainly still in its infancy and years from completion, has not yet been debated in the House and could come up for a great deal of discussion this session.


Also on the books are several negotiations that have stretched on for years. Canada and South Korea are still far apart because of auto and beef industry concerns, while the Canada-Singapore and Canada-Central America Four deals are stalled.


In terms of new deals, the government has not yet signalled its next target, though it has pledged to move forcefully. It will also be a strong advocate for increased trade liberalization at a time when the world is looking to hunker down. Still, Canada seems to have an easier time talking trade deals than finishing talks, especially when it comes to difficult negotiations.


One question mark is Canada’s new trade minister. While David Emerson had a solid background in business and was said to be the main influence behind shaping Canada’s trade and investment policies, Stockwell Day is a relatively unknown quantity on the file. With a new administration south of the border, Mr. Day has perhaps been put in this position for the solid American connections he made during his time as minister of public safety.


But under Mr. Emerson, Canada identified India, China and other emerging economies as major priorities and moved its resources away from Europe and Africa in favour of Latin America and Asia. Will this trend continue? Read the complete article.