For years, NAFTA had remained dormant as a significant issue in American and Canadian federal political campaigns.
In both countries, the viability of the free trade agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. hadn't been questioned since the early 1990s.
Sure, there have been disputes -- for example, over softwood timber -- but the trade pact, itself, was never in doubt.
That is, until this spring 2008. That's when the Democratic presidential candidates thrust NAFTA back into the political limelight, telling voters they wanted to take a second look at the deal.
Stumble It!
Something like this will test the mettle of the man, after the 20th January. There is no doubt that the likes of Harper will continue to push for "free trade" (although how it can be called that, considering the softwood lumber debacle and the $hit kicking Canada took on that), and Ignatief will follow Harper like the lapdog he seems to be shaping up as. So it will be up to the President-elect to determine the future of NAFTA, et al.
What I see happening is a series of softwood lumber - like occurances, designed to boost jobs in the US, with no resistance from the Canadian government and its "paper tiger" approach to international relations.