3. Will signing NAFTA mean that our supply management systems in agriculture will be phased out?
4. Will Canada have to lower its environmental standards to compete with Mexico and the United States?
5. If it wishes, should British Columbia be able to prohibit or restrict bulk water exports to the United States and Mexico? Will British Columbia be able to do so under the NAFTA?
6. If Canada does not participate in the NAFTA, will we be subject to a "hub-and-spoke" trade relationship with the United States and other North American countries?
7. Does the NAFTA prevent Canada from restricting its exports of oil and gas?
8. Will consumer goods be cheaper under the NAFTA?
9. What are the benefits and disadvantages of agreeing to treat U.S. and Mexican individuals and corporations as Canadian nationals?
10. Is the dispute resolution panels function weakened by the absence of the FTA's requirement for Parties to negotiate a subsidy code and new trade remedy laws?
11. Could Canada's membership in a North American trading bloc inhibit our opportunities to expand and enhance our relations with other trading partners?
12. What is the likely impact of the NAFTA on British Columbia's ability to compete in:
-- the forestry value-added sector?
-- electronics and applied technology?
-- B.C.'s inland and coastal fishery?
-- vegetable and food processing industries?
-- attracting foreign investments in production to the serve the North American market?
13. Would there be benefit in the Parties agreeing to an enforceable mechanism that provides for an upward harmonization of environmental and labour standards? Does the potential for an international body to determine these questions pose a threat to Canadian jurisdictional sovereignty?
Here are the actual documents! They're pretty short -- definitely worth a read:
Select Standing Committee on Economic Development, Science, Labour Training and Technology,
First Report
Second Report
...while I'm at it why don't I include a paper put out by the congressional Office of Technology Assessment which said:
"OTA's analysis suggests that market forces alone are not likely to produce significant social and economic rewards following a free trade agreement. To yield substantial rewards, trade liberalization will have to be accompanied by significant changes in other aspects of U.S. and Mexican policies."
U.S. Mexico Trade: Pulling Together or Pulling Apart?
Note: here
First Report
Second Report
U.S. Mexico Trade: Pull...
Stumble It!
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
A. PROCESS
Your Committee recommends that the Province of British Columbia urge the federal government not to proclaim the NAFTA implementation legislation pending a federal election, wherein a full public debate on the NAFTA and its implications for British Columbia and Canada can take place.
B. CONTINENTAL TRADE
(i) Your Committee recommends that the Government of British Columbia, pursuant to Annex I of the NAFTA, submit a reservations list which, in the areas of investment, cross-border trade in services and financial services, constitutes as comprehensive a representation of existing policy and legislation as possible. Further, your Committee recommends that the Government of British Columbia take all steps necessary to ensure that the Government of Canada accepts these reservations without amendment.
(ii) Your Committee recommends that the Government of British Columbia take those steps necessary to ensure that the North American Free Trade Agreement does not restrict the Province of British Columbia's ability to implement public policy in areas of primary provincial jurisdiction.
(iii) Your Committee recommends that the Province of British Columbia continue to develop its substantial and growing trading relationship with Pacific Rim and other nations, and undertake measures to ensure that the North American Free Trade Agreement does not undermine this valued relationship.
C. MARKET ACCESS
Your Committee recommends that the Province of British Columbia continue to offer constructive criticism of the current dispute resolution process, particularly in the absence of negotiations on new, common rules of trade. Further, your Committee recommends that the Province of British Columbia actively oppose the decisions of bi-national dispute resolution panels which undermine British Columbia's domestic log processing requirements.
D. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL STANDARDS
Your Committee recommends that the Government of Canada submit the NAFTA to the federal Environmental Assessment Review Process (EARP) in recognition that this federal government undertaking has significant implications for Canada's environment.
E. NATURAL RESOURCES AND SECTORAL CONSIDERATIONS
(i) Your Committee recommends that the Province of British Columbia urge the Government of Canada to re-introduce federal legislation to restrict the export of water from Canada. Your Committee further recommends that British Columbia pursue a pro-active management regime for the conservation and management of British Columbia's fresh-water.
(ii) Your Committee recommends the Province of British Columbia take the policy steps necessary to ensure that British Columbia is not adversely affected from proportional-sharing obligations as set out in the NAFTA.
(iii) Your Committee recommends that the Province of British Columbia undertake policy initiatives to ensure that the British Columbia forest products industry has the right of first refusal with respect to the export of forest products.
(iv) Your Committee recommends that the Province of British Columbia enact legislation similar in principle and effect to the U.S. Fishery Conservation and Management (Magnuson) Act, 1976, the New Brunswick Fish Processing Act, 1982, the Nova Scotia Fisheries Act, 1977, the Prince Edward Island Fish Inspection Act, 1988, and the Processing Act, 1987, which ensures that British Columbia is able to restrict the export of unprocessed fish to that which exceeds the domestic fish processing industry's needs.
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"So many right-wing Christians, so few lions." - t-shirt I saw @ school
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Dave Ruston