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ceta
Dear Canada, free trade deals don't make sense if you don't sell things to your trade partners.
The CETA accord needs to be approved by all 28 EU member states to fully come into force.
As if trade problems with the White House weren't enough.
Some may argue that the world is a lot more complicated today, which is why we need more complicated trade deals, but this is simply false.
A shot across the bow of protectionism.
Last October, we were treated to the tale of the off-again, on-again Canada-European Union summit featuring CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. The agreement was signed in a hasty and somewhat shaky ceremony on October 30. It was a comedy of errors right from the beginning.
Paul Magnette is not a household name in Canada, but he should be: he is best known for making Chrystia Freeland, our former Trade Minister, cry. Magnette, minister-president of Belgium's French-speaking Wallonia region, raised the ire of the international economic community: How dare a small region like Wallonia bring down the work of 28 other countries? And how dare he challenge a free trade agreement? Well, here's the thing: He vows to do so again.
For as much as a government wishes to enact progressive policies, trade agreements -- such as the Canada-EU Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- curtail their abilities to redistribute income and legislate for the common interest. These deals are vectors of inequality.
The Trudeau government has been calling CETA the "most progressive" free trade deal ever. But the deal does not require the payment of living wages; it does not mandate a crackdown on tax evasion; and it certainly does not try to guarantee the "peace of mind ... that come[s] with stable, full-time contracts."
CETA, the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, has everyone talking about Canada in Brussels, the EU capital, ahead of February 15's vote - and it's not always good. So, here is a tip for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of his Thursday speech at the European Parliament.
