NEW ‘PROGRESSIVE’ CHAPTERS

Freeland has spoken at length about her goal that NAFTA “be made more progressive,” using CETA, the trade deal signed last year between the European Union and Canada, as an example.

Canada’s key demands were for the inclusion of a new chapter on labour safeguards, a chapter on environmental provisions, a chapter on gender rights and one on Indigenous issues. The result is a mixed bag.

The labour chapter has been brought into the core of the agreement, as well as one on the environment, but the text contains only brief mentions of Indigenous and gender rights, rather than dedicated chapters in the core agreement.

A year ago, Freeland specifically touted the labour and environmental chapters as necessary to ensure not just a free trade deal, but a “fair trade deal” for Canadians. Those are the two chapters that ended up in the new deal.