Montreal – Canada must develop trade policies that ensure that more Canadians share in the benefits of globalization and technological progress, says Redesigning Canadian Trade Policies for New Global Realities. Edited by Stephen Tapp, Ari Van Assche and Robert Wolfe, and published by the IRPP, it is based on extensive research and sets out a forward-looking policy agenda for more inclusive trade.
With the focus on the impending renegotiation of NAFTA, Canada now stands at a critical crossroads. Our economic prosperity depends on international trade and investment, but new global realities – including rising anti-trade sentiments – are calling into question long-standing policy goals and approaches.
“If Canadians believe that the benefits will be too narrowly concentrated at the top, then any attempt to promote economic prosperity through trade integration will face resistance. A more inclusive trade agenda is an essential component of broader efforts to deliver more inclusive economic growth and maintain public support for trade,” says Stephen Tapp, co-editor of the volume.
The volume’s editors say that governments need to better protect workers whose jobs are negatively affected by economic dislocation —whether or not it is trade related — by focusing on skills development and retraining. They also call for a renewed, evidence-based approach to trade policy that does the following:
“Given the global nature of production, trade and investment, Canada’s interests ultimately lie in a transparent, inclusive and global system for trade and investment. We should be thinking multilateral first in our trade policy,” says co-editor Robert Wolfe.
Redesigning Canadian Trade Policies for New Global Realities, edited by Stephen Tapp, Ari Van Assche and Robert Wolfe, is the sixth volume in The Art of the State series. It brings together the contributions of over 30 experts from eight different countries to analyze how structural changes and emerging trends in international commerce, technology and economic power are affecting Canada, and what these changes mean for public policy.
Media are invited to attend the book launch event on May 16 in Ottawa (Rideau Club, 99 Bank Street, 15th floor, 3:00 -7:00 p.m.).
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Media contact: Shirley Cardenas tel. 514-594-6877 scardenas@nullirpp.org
Cléa Desjardins
Communications Director
514-245-2139 • cdesjardins@irpp.org