A press release was issued by Newfoundland and Labrador premier, Danny Williams, on Friday outlining his province’s concerns with plans for a new Canadian / EU Free Trade Agreement and withdrawing his province’s support for upcoming negotiations by Ottawa.
The release states that, “While Newfoundland and Labrador fully supports improved trade with the European Union, any actions taken in that regard must address priority areas of concern for the province. In particular, the province is extremely hesitant to allow the Federal Government to head these negotiations, given past actions that question their commitment to issues of importance to the province.”
It goes on to say that "At this point, we are not willing to sign on to support the negotiation of a new and comprehensive economic agreement with the European Union.”
“This decision should not be confused with a lack of support for an improved trade relationship between Canada and Europe. Indeed, Newfoundland and Labrador values and respects its trade relations with Europe which have existed with the province for over 5 centuries…However, other concerns prevent the province from giving unqualified support for the Canadian Government’s process as it moves forward
"The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is unable to support this at this time on the basis of very genuine concerns that our province’s issues may not be safeguarded or dealt with in an appropriate way by the Federal Government.”
“In particular, long standing issues such as custodial management of our fishery, a proposed ban on seal products into the EU and prohibitive tariffs on seafood products entering the EU represent significant issues of concern that have been left unaddressed by the Federal Government for far too long.
Newfoundland and Labrador has not received any assurances that a Canada-EU agreement would include protection for measures such as the Atlantic Accords and Fish Inspection Act. Additionally, a track record of a lack of substantive and inclusive consultation on federal-provincial issues gives Newfoundland and Labrador great cause for concern, particularly in light of the far reaching implications of a possible Canada-EU trade agreement."
The official press release comes at a time when Newfoundland and Labrador is being challenged under NAFTA for the expropriation of provincial timber and hydro leases once held by U.S. registered paper maker Abitibi-Bowater.
It’s difficult to determine whether the province’s position on Canada / EU trade carries any real weight in Ottawa or not since it is the federal government that is ultimately responsible for international trade agreements. However, the position taken by the province serves to highlight a number of important issues for the province on both the national and international stage.
While the federal government does not officially need provincial support to enter into international trade agreements, however actually making them work without the support of all the provinces is a problem.
Any agreement signed by Ottawa cannot infringe on provincial jurisdiction or legislative abilities. A clear example of this can be seen in the case of the Abitibi-Bowater expropriation. Newfoundland and Labrador has the legal legislative right to expropriate the resources in question from the company. It is up to Ottawa to defend the action under the NAFTA agreement and, should Canada lose that challenge, it will ultimately be the federal government, not the province, which is required to pay any penalties imposed.
