Free Trade Federalism: Negotiating the Canadian Agreement on Internal Trade

by G. Bruce Doern, Mark R. Macdonald

The pressures of regional as well as global free trade are crossing ever more deeply into the fabric of Canadian federalism. Based on interviews with key negotiators, and set in the entwined histories of trade policy, industrial and regional policy, and federal-provincial policy, Doern and MacDonald provide an integrated account of the negotiations that in 1993-4 led to the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) among the federal government, the provinces, and both territorial governments. The authors examine both the central negotiations and the trade-offs made by the federal government and key clusters of provinces, and sectoral representatives in fields such as investment, regional policy, procurement, the environment and resources. Arguing that AIT and FTA/NAFTA should be seen as the fourth and fifth pillars of Canada's bedrock institutions, joining the parliamentary system, federalism, and Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the book positions AIT as a significant achievement, signalling important changes in both federalism and policy formation. They argue that as the AIT is built upon, key issues regarding Canada's social union that have yet to be confronted will increasingly arise.

Hardcover

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Dr. Bruce Doern is Distinguished Research Professor in the School and also Professor Emeritus in the Politics Department at the University Exeter in the UK.

He continues to actively research and publish in several fields of Canadian, comparative and international public policy and governance including; environment, energy, science, technology and innovation, biotechnology; food and health; regulation, public budgeting, trade, and intellectual property.