A Lakehead University professor has given his two cents on the economic boost the proposed Canada European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement could have on the country.
The Conservative government started negations with the European Union in order to establish an international trade agreement. A joint study of such an agreement showed the trade agreement could boost Canada’s income by $12 million annually and bilateral trade by 20 per cent.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade says that equals to 80,000 new jobs or increasing the average family’s income by $1,000.
The whole idea had Lakehead University economics professor Livio Di Matteo interested.
Di Matteo wrote an opinion piece for the Winnipeg Free Press where he explained the trade agreement would be largely positive for Canada’s economy.
“One can expect that, like the Free Trade Agreement, there will be economic adjustment that generates winners and losers, but that over the long term, there will be economic growth and employment generated from diversifying our trade,” Di Matteo wrote. “Moreover, reducing our dependence on the U.S. market will actually create greater economic stability for our economy.”
“Despite its current economic woes, the European Union represents significant long-term potential for the growth of Canadian exports and an important counterweight to our dependency on the American market. The recent concerns that the CETA may increase drug prices and health-care costs, as well as prevent Canada's municipal governments from sourcing foods and services locally, are not reasons for us to retreat from this deal.”
Tbnewswatch.com attempted to contact Di Matteo for this story but was unsuccessful.
Nearly two weeks ago, economist Jim Stanford recommended city council find a way to exempt Thunder Bay from the EU trade agreement.
Stanford warned that if Canada went ahead with the CETA deal then municipalities like Thunder Bay would be negatively impacted and detrimental for businesses like Bombardier.
He said the procurement rules would hurt local companies and he estimated the trade agreement could cost the city more than a 1000 jobs and possible put 3000 jobs in the region at risk if Bombardier were to close.
With all the economic and political uncertainty happening in Europe, he recommended that the city find a way to be exempt from the agreement.
“Europe already sells much more to us than we sell to them so we have a large existing trading imbalance,” Stanford said.
“The Euro has declined versus our loonie that has made their products additionally more competitive far more so than impact of tariff reduction. CETA imposes major restrictions on the decision making of municipal governments.”
He said the biggest threat to Thunder Bay could be the restrictions on public procurement.
