U.S. co-operation needed to put end to trade friction with China
OTTAWA—China and the United States are the world’s two largest economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Therefore maintaining a healthy and stable development of China-U.S. relations serves the fundamental interests of the two and the rest of the world. Unilaterally starting a trade war against China with measures of extreme pressure […]
Brexit: Johnson makes his move
Shock! Horror! Johnson prorogues Parliament! End of democracy in Britain! The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, says he was not even consulted, and calls it “a constitutional outrage.” Or, to put it a little less dramatically, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cut the amount of time that Parliament will meet before he […]
New Indonesian envoy wants Canada to ‘expand horizons’ with ASEAN free trade deal
After Canada’s federal race is decided, Indonesia’s new ambassador says he hopes the country can revisit a free trade agreement with a bloc of 10 Southeast Asian countries that has been in discussions for two years. One of Abdul Kadir Jailani’s “main missions” in Canada will be to strengthen trade ties between the two countries, […]
Britain’s poor pay for trade negotiators hampered recruitment of Canadian trade officials
The British government has tried to poach Canadians, including a senior ambassador, as it built a new trade negotiation team in the midst of its looming departure from the European Union. Some of those offers were rejected for having inadequate salary, however, according to multiple sources and a report in the British press. Canada and […]
Federal Court made the right call on West Bank wines, decision should not be appealed
Re: “Feds ‘carefully reviewing’ court decision to order removal of ‘product of Israel’ labels on West Bank wines,” (The Hill Times, Aug. 6, online). Predictably, the pro-Israel lobby’s criticisms of the Federal Court’s settlement wine-labelling decision ignore the most salient facts and legal principles. First, the West Bank is not part of Israel. This has […]
‘In-depth’ understanding of Congress, Capitol Hill outreach to be part of MacNaughton’s D.C. legacy, say experts
When David MacNaughton departs his post as Canada’s ambassador to the United States at the end of the month, he will be remembered for the important links he made with Congress, say trade experts and politicos. In the midst of the precarious renegotiation of NAFTA with the volatile Trump administration, Canada shifted its eyes towards […]
Five ways NDP seeks to differentiate itself from Trudeau government
An NDP government under Jagmeet Singh may be a long shot, given the party’s performance in the polls, which have had the Conservatives and the Liberals running neck and neck for months at a time. Still, the party is hoping to pry some progressive votes away from the Liberals in part by calling for a universal […]
Inexperience of British trade team created ‘frustration’ during early talks for a potential Canada-U.K. pact, experts say
Before Canada-U.K. preliminary trade talks cooled, the inexperience of the British negotiation team complicated the discussions, observers say. “They have never done this before,” said Eric Miller, a former senior policy adviser to the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and current head of the Rideau Potomac Strategy Group. The United Kingdom has not negotiated a […]
Parties competing over values, not substance, in foreign policy platforms
In the 2015 federal election, Justin Trudeau campaigned on a foreign policy vision that differed radically from that of Stephen Harper, arguing that a decade of Conservative rule meant that Canada had drifted away from upholding the values that underpinned its actions as a global actor. However, in power, the differences between the two are […]
Feds ‘carefully reviewing’ court decision to order removal of ‘product of Israel’ labels on West Bank wines
Canadian Jewish groups and Liberal MP Anthony Housefather are encouraging the government to appeal a recent court decision regarding the labelling of Israeli wines produced by Israeli citizens in the West Bank. “I have read the judgment and believe there are substantive errors in the judgment and as such, I have encouraged the Government to […]
