Suchergebnisse

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union, which entered into force in 2017, is the first international trade agreement that grants access to government procurement markets in Canadian municipalities. In the short term, will the agreement lead to major changes in the policies and procedures of Canadian local government procurement authorities or to changes in the proportion of foreign-controlled companies that win contracts? The magnitude of the impact depends on how the current practices of municipalities differ from those that are required under CETA. We focus on large Canadian municipalities and build our arguments on the basis of key informant interviews, analysis of legal and policy documents, and the econometric analysis of contract-level municipal data. Our conclusion is that CETA will not greatly affect process or outcomes, at least not in the short term.

Trade adjustment assistance (TAA) is government aid to those affected by trade agreements. We review the history of TAA in Canada and ask whether Canada needs to reintroduce it in response to the recent intensification of trade negotiations. In light of the compensation offered by the federal government in connection with the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), we examine how TAA fits in with the evolution of Canadian federalism in the trade policy area. Based in part on interviews with provincial trade negotiators, we conclude, first, that the compensation is an outcome of Canadian federalism. Second, we argue that while there is no reason to reintroduce a federal TAA program for workers, compensation for provinces is necessary to facilitate their cooperation with the implementation of trade treaty provisions. Third, we suggest that a more transparent rationale for such compensation would be superior to the ad hoc compensation observed in CETA.