The new Liberal government is reviewing the Conservative
promise of up to $4.3 billion for quota-holding farmers as part of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Comments during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to
Manila indicate the Liberals are likely to approve the TPP deal, but not
necessarily the compensation package.
Trudeau and his trade minister, Chrystia Freeland, said they
favour improved trade relations among the 12 TPP nations and that Canada is
reviewing the deal because that was a campaign promise.
Canadian Press reports that Freeland said her government is
not bound by the compensation commitment of the Conservatives, which was made
by its cabinet during the federal election campaign.
One of the features of that Tory promise is a 10-year
guarantee that quota holders’ profits will not decline, plus a further five
years of phasing down of the profit support.
The package would also guarantee no decline in quota prices
for sales made within the first 10 years.
Nobody else affected by the trade deal has any promises of any compensation.
Freeland's assessment came in Manila on Wednesday at the
same Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders' summit where U.S. President
Barack Obama made an impassioned pitch to the leaders of the 12 TPP countries —
including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — to ratify the deal as quickly as
possible.
The APEC gathering brought together all 12 TPP countries for
the first time since the historic deal, which covers 40 per cent of the global
economy, was announced on Oct. 5.
"We appreciate the importance of compensation to
affected sectors," said Freeland. "It would be very inappropriate for
us to commit to specific packages given that we're actually reviewing the
agreement overall."
Freeland said she had good conversations about the issue
with Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Economic Development Minister
Navdeep Bains before leaving Canada.
"We are reviewing now what the compensation plans will
be, and I am not going to make commitments for my fellow ministers who are back
home in Canada."
Freeland reiterated what the government has been telling its
fellow 11 TPP partners in Manila: that it is pro-trade, realizes the importance
of the deal to the Canadian economy, but that it made an election campaign
promise to put the deal before the country.
She said she is also telling them "that the TPP was not
negotiated by our government, it was negotiated by the previous government and
our job now is to carefully review the text and consult." Freeland said
she is encountering "great understanding" of that position among its
TPP partners.
Obama is telling the politicians to buck up and approve the
deal. He said "TPP is at the heart of our shared vision for the future of
this dynamic region."
"Today, we're going to discuss the road ahead to ensure
that TPP is enacted in each of our countries as swiftly as possible. Obviously,
execution is critical after we have arrived at the text."
Obama said called the pact "the highest standard and
most progressive trade deal ever concluded," citing its strong protections
for workers, prohibitions against child labour and labour, and environmental
protection — all of it enforceable.
