The impacts of NAFTA and CUSMA on Canadian provinces
Loading...
Date
2023-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of New Brunswick
Abstract
This thesis explores the role of Canadian provinces in the negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and examines the impacts of these Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) on provinces, particularly New Brunswick. From a critical political economy perspective, this thesis argues that the negotiations of NAFTA and CUSMA by federal authorities reduce international trade policy to technical matters, bypassing the role of provinces, including provincial legislatures, within existing Canadian federalism. This has also undermined the influence of parliamentary and provincial institutions, including provincial legislatures, in international trade policy, despite the latter’s impact on local development. As a result, provinces have to align their regulatory frameworks with the liberalization and regulatory harmonization terms stipulated in these FTAs.