After 8 unsuccessful years in office Stephen Harpers rush to sign Free Trade Deals on behalf of Canadians have been an image seeking attempt to show his base that he is doing something for the economy.
The curious case of the Canada-Korea free trade deal
There are many motivations to explain the Harper government's rush to sign free trade deals. Since coming to power, the Conservatives have implemented six FTAs, "concluded" two more (with Korea and, purportedly, with the EU) and have fully 14 other FTA negotiations on the go.
To some extent Conservatives actually believe in these things. I doubt that even they honestly swallow the rhetoric about FTAs spurring major new jobs and growth here. But Conservatives clearly support the pro-business institutional framework that NAFTA-style deals help to permanently enshrine. And their backers in the business community are enthusiastic that more free trade commitments (including those dealing with services deregulation, intellectual property, liberalization of procurement, investor rights, national treatment, and other key non-tariff measures) will lock Canada into a business-dominated trajectory for many years after the Conservatives have been voted out of office.
However, I think that political factors are more important in explaining the Conservative rush to sign FTAs -- more than any belief that they would actually boost the economy. Given the consistently disappointing performance of the Canadian economy over the last three years, the government is concerned to "look busy": that is, it must be seen to be moving forcefully to do something about the economy.
READ MORE: http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/progressive-economics-forum/2014/10/curious-case-canada-korea-free-trade-deal
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