Going Trans-Pacific: Part I

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By George S. Takach , Lexpert Magazine Mar 22, 2016

For Canada, where global trade makes up nearly a third of GDP, ratifying the TPP is no trivial matter

You will be hearing a lot about the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (“TPP”) this year. The Harper Conservative government signed it on Oct. 5, 2015, but for it to be effective for Canada, it has to be ratified by the new Liberal government of Justin Trudeau. This outcome, presumably, is not a foregone conclusion — the new International Trade Minister, Chrystia Freeland, said the new government will take a very close look at it. And so you can expect a lot of advocacy and commentary on the TPP in Ottawa and across Canada in the coming year.

The trade agreement will also come under close scrutiny in the US. This is an election year south of the border, and there will be partisans on both sides of the TPP ratification debate. Some of the commentary in Washington will influence decision-makers and opinion-formers in Canada. This will all make for interesting political theatre — which would be entertaining if the stakes weren’t so high.

In this column, and the next two, I will discuss specific aspects of the TPP related to e-commerce and intellectual property. But before I do, let me disclose straight away that I am an ardent free-trader. And I’ll try to convince you why Canada should be pro free trade as well.

Why Canada Needs Trade

Canada is one of the largest countries in the world when it comes to its territorial expanse. While Russia is by far the biggest in terms of physical surface area (17,075,200 square kilometres), Canada (9,984,670) is the second largest, with the United States (9,826,630), China (9,596,960), Brazil (8,511,965) and Australia (7,686,850) filling out the top six.
 

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