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May 22, 2008 A Canada West Foundation poll, which was reported in some newspapers as indicating Canadian support for eliminating so-called inter-provincial trade barriers, reveals distaste in western Canada for the negative impacts of international free trade agreements. According to the poll, while 76 per cent of respondents felt that increased international trade and agreements like NAFTA have been very good (32 per cent) or somewhat good (44 per cent) for corporations, that number drops to 54 per cent for workers, 53 per cent for Canadian culture, 46 per cent for Canada’s social programs, and 37 per cent for the environment. Furthermore, when asked if Canada’s relationship with the United States should be much stronger, stronger, about the same, weaker or much weaker than it is now, only four in 10 respondents said stronger or much stronger. This indicates yet again that Canada’s commitment to deep integration with the United States through agreements like the Security and Prosperity Partnership is completely out of whack with national priorities. Finally, the question on inter-provincial trade barriers is asked in such a way to make the answers almost meaningless. Who would answer no to whether or not trade barriers between the Canadian provinces should be removed? The trick is that there are no significant barriers to inter-provincial trade, investment or labour mobility. Had the Canada West Foundation asked whether provincial and municipal regulations should be harmonized across the country, even if this resulted in universally adopting the weakest standards, I’m sure the answer would have looked much different. They could also have asked whether corporations should be compensated financially when government measures interfere with their profits, even if these measures are designed to protect public health or the environment. These are exactly the kinds of restrictions that will be placed on provincial and municipal governments if the other western provinces agree to sign the Alberta-B.C. Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement, which the Canada West Foundation hopes they will. I think they call this baiting in the polling business. It means the question you ask results in exactly the answer you want to get.
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