How Canada can advance Indigenous rights through trade agreements
According to our government, Canada put the “progressive” in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership. In 2017, PM Justin Trudeau dramatically walked out of negotiations in Vietnam, and subsequently took credit for including Indigenous, labour, and environmental rights in the preamble. In 2018, Canada became the 5th country to ratify the 11-country CPTPP agreement. A study […]
Canada continues to delay decision on COVID vaccines IP waiver
The Canadian government maintains it hasn’t made up its mind on a waiver that potentially could allow increased vaccine production around the world, a delay some say is equivalent to opposing the initiative. The waiver was brought forward to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) last October […]
This just in: IMF advocates for more active government in post-pandemic world
TORONTO—Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, in preparing her first budget, would be well-served by reading the latest advice coming out of the International Monetary Fund. The global agency, once noted for its dogmatic—and at times destructive–unbridled free market ideology, is now an advocate of more active government and is making clear the connections between social policy, […]
The return of industrial policy
An unintended consequence of populism and geopolitics is the return of industrial policy in most Western countries. Whether it is populist “Buy America” policies creating protectionist trade walls, or expanding tech export and investment restrictions as the United States and China compete for dominance in key technologies, or the lack of resiliency in global supply […]
Some Senators criticize rushed process as Canada-U.K. transitional trade deal passes Red Chamber without committee review
For the second time in a row, the Senate fast-tracked a trade implementation bill without a formal committee review, drawing the ire of some members of the Red Chamber and raising questions about the Senate’s role in the trade process. Last week, Bill C-18—the Canada-U.K. Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) implementation bill—passed through the Senate in […]
Canada needs to take a real hard look at its foreign policy, and reset it
From rejoining the Paris Climate Accord to rapprochement with Iran and China, the Biden administration appears to be actively resetting the U.S. government’s foreign policy agenda around the globe. The strategy, in large part, is aimed to undo the deleterious effects of Donald Trump’s unfettered foreign policy adventurism. This is especially evident in Biden’s approach […]
COVID crisis or change point: how agriculture can lead out of pandemic recession
Canada’s Conservatives understand the many challenges that the agricultural sector has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these challenges, Canadian farmers have remained resilient and continue to put world-class food on our tables to feed our families. John F. Kennedy famously pointed to the Chinese characters for “crisis” as signifying both danger and opportunity. However, […]
Resilient farmers need a responsive government
At the start of the pandemic last March, the House Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee had just begun a study, based on a motion I moved during our first couple of meetings, looking into the suite of Business Risk Management Programs (BRMs) offered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to aid farmers and producers in times of […]
Lack of sunset clause in Canada-U.K. interim deal could stick us with status quo, say opposition MPs
Opposition MPs are concerned the absence of a sunset clause in the new Canada-U.K. Trade Continuity Agreement may affect the conclusion of a more comprehensive Canada-U.K. free trade deal, but experts say there are incentives for both Ottawa and London to reach a new pact by 2024. Canada and the U.K. agreed to a transitional […]
‘Much water has flown’ since heated row over Trudeau’s farmers’ protest comments, says Indian envoy
While demonstrators stood across the street from India’s New Edinburgh High Commission protesting new farm laws as snow covered the national capital last week, inside, India’s envoy to Canada said a recent phone call between the countries’ two prime ministers has helped New Delhi and Ottawa move past a diplomatic row over Canadian support for […]
