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Op-Ed: Former Canadian PM responsible for NAFTA criticizes Trump

The former Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney, who was in power when NAFTA was passed said: “If you cancelled your trade arrangements and threw up barriers as they did in the 1930’s you would bring about a catastrophic recession – and depression. That’s not going to happen.” He claimed that if one wanted to be defeated in a Canadian election campaign one should just promise to cancel NAFTA. I am not sure that is correct. There are still many critics of NAFTA. At the very least, many would like to see parts of the deal renegotiated.

Brian Mulroney was in power from September 1984 until June 1993. While the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)_ was negotiated while he was in power, it came into effect only in January 1994. It is a free trade agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Mulroney became quite unpopular towards the end of his time as Prime Minister. In a 1992 Gallup poll he reached a peak of disapproval with only an 11 percent approval rating. When he retired in February of 1993 he still was approved only by 21 percent.

The new Progressive Conservative Party leader Kim Campbell became the first woman prime minister in Canadian history. She never got to hold a parliamentary session since she was roundly defeated in the fall 1993 election. She never got to take up the PM’s residence in Ottawa since Mulroney stayed there until his house in Montreal was ready. She had to stay at the official summer residence at Harrington Lake. The 1993 election results were in part a consequence of the unpopularity of Mulroney and his party rather than any fault of Campbell. The former ruling party came fifth going from 156 seats to 2. The Liberals won with 177. The separatist Quebec Bloc won 54 seats, Reform Party 52, and New Democrats 9. Obviously passing NAFTA did not boost Conservative fortunes. Jean Chretien the Liberal Party leader promised to renegotiate NAFTA and that no doubt helped him get elected: “I’m confident we will be able to renegotiate NAFTA,” Liberal Party leader Jean Chretien said last week. “We will try to get maximum satisfaction.” But the specifics of how a Liberal government might negotiate changes in NAFTA — and persuade the United States and Mexico to go along — are more complex and nuanced than Chretien’s words. There was no renegotiation.

NAFTA gives unprecedented power to corporations to sue governments should they pass legislation that is regarded as counter to the agreement and would harm profits of corporations. NAFTA is often criticized by opponents for negative effects on the United States and Canada. However. the agreement had devastating consequences for indigenous groups in Mexico and was a prime cause of the rise of the Zapatista movement.

Chapter 11 of NAFTA allows Mexico or the US to challenge Canadian environmental laws, municipal land use controls, or measures to protect water, the activities of Canada Post, or even the decision of courts. NAFTA also prevents Canada from selling energy in Canada at lower rates than we charge for exported energy to the US. We are forbidden to cut back as well on the proportion of our energy we sell to the US under “proportional sharing” provisions even in times when we run short of supplies for our own citizens. As there is a move in Canada to privatize some health care services, giant US health corporations immediately must receive equal treatment to any Canadian providers.

Campaigning for renegotiation is not likely to be a disaster for Trump, as NAFTA has its critics in the United States. Trump can immediately point out that the establishment and the corporate community will rush to defend the pact, showing that Trump again is on the side of the people and against the corporate elite — even though he is one of them!

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