The Provinces and Canadian Foreign Trade Policy (review)

Christopher J. Kukucha’s study provides a sophisticated analysis into the dynamic relationship between the pillars of Canadian federalism and the domestic trade policy process. He carefully integrates varying approaches in the international political economy literature with federalism studies. In doing so, he successfully bridges two areas study that are traditionally considered to be relatively autonomous—international relations and Canadian politics and government.

Kukucha’s study queries the extent to which provinces have been affected by recent international trade agreements given that the substantive issues being addressed increasingly fall within provincial jurisdiction. No longer do tariffs and barriers to trade dominate discussions as trade talks increasingly deal with provincial concerns such as natural resources, labour, and the environment. The book focuses on the effect of this shift in the nature of international trade agreements. As Kukucha indicates, one would anticipate that given the change in the types of issues being addressed, provincial governments would be increasingly involved in the discussions as their politics and local economies would be significantly affected.

The book reaches two important conclusions. On the one hand, Kukucha finds that international trade policy remains largely under the purview of federal decision-makers. Although his research carefully reveals that there is a large and relatively institutionalized consultative process, provincial governments play a relatively minor role in agenda-setting or decision-making unless a particular crisis arises (p. 80). On the other hand, Kukucha determines that the country has remained relatively insulated from the new directions of international trade agreements. As he explains, there is “no current evidence of ‘significant’ regime-based change related to provincial foreign trade policy. Specifically, new and existing norms and standards continue to focus on functional issues and do not directly challenge domestic regulations or judicial precedent” (p. 198).

The book is divided into three sections. The first contextualizes the issues under consideration by reviewing provincial trade patterns and the institutional mechanisms in place for consultation among varying interests in the international trade policy process. Part two undertakes a thorough analysis of the processes and outcomes in several respects. As noted earlier, the author undertakes a detailed examination of the role of the provincial executive. He dedicates a chapter to the role of the bureaucrats and legislators in the process, finding that with the exception of Quebec, provincial legislatures play a relatively limited role. Kukucha also examines the role of varying stakeholder and societal interests, noting that the latter has little influence in the process. As significantly, the author evaluates the role of ideas and ideologies on policy-making in this field. Though this is a relatively difficult task, the author does a fine job of exploring this relationship, recognizing that neo-liberalism is only one of a number of considerations that have shaped the issues and outcomes of international trade processes. The last section of the book provides the reader with two sets of case studies that focus on the provincial role in international trade policy. One focuses on the network of relationships among Canadian provinces and American state governments involving functional issues, and the other examines the provincial role in the NAFTA side agreements in labour and environment. The discussion is informative and insightful, providing the reader with a clearer understanding of the nature and limits of provincial governments in the policy area.

The author examines the legal and juridical context for international trade policy issues briefly in Chapter 2. It might have been useful to undertake a more detailed review of the constitutional issues at hand as these might have yielded further insights into why provincial executives and their respective legislatures are relatively constrained actors in international trade policy processes.

The policy implications arising from this work are twofold. First, can the federal government continue to adequately represent the interests of Canadians in international trade matters that fall within provincial jurisdiction? While it seems that the system has promoted Canadian interests relatively well in the sense that the new international agreements have been limited in their influence, can this...