In this commentary, AIMS Director of Research Don McIver argues that the proposed Canada-European Union trade pact (CETA) is in Canada’s best interests. McIver makes the case that many of the issues that are being negotiated are so clearly beneficial that Canada should implement them with, or without, a trade agreement.
The commentary takes a stand on eliminating existing agricultural supply management practices on the basis of their obsolescence and the undoubted additional cost burden Canadians face when buying such staples as milk, butter and eggs. It examines government procurement practices and suggests that, even if agreed within CETA, nearly all the substantial public cost savings would come from domestic competition.
In Selling Ourselves on Self-Interest, McIver notes that there are clear signs that global R&D activity is increasingly gravitating towards Asia and that, in order to protect the technology niche enjoyed by this country it should take unilateral action to ensure that research activity undertaken here is appropriately sheltered and that Canada is recognized as adhering to international standards of intellectual property protection.
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