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International Journal | 2013

Canadian sub-federal governments and CETA: Overarching themes and future trends

Christopher J. Kukucha

Canadian provinces and territories have gained increasing relevance in matters of international trade over the last several decades. The possibility of a Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, however, marks the first time that sub-federal governments in Canada have been directly involved in specific areas of negotiations. The significance of this development, examined in this series of policy papers, can be organized under five overarching themes: 1) the negotiation, ratification, and implementation of foreign trade agreements; 2) the need to distinguish between process activity and actual policy outcomes; 3) the ongoing relevance of Canadian federalism; 4) the impact of non-governmental actors, especially civil society; and 5) the differing interpretations of academics, practitioners, business, and societal groups.


Canadian Foreign Policy Journal | 2015

Federalism matters: evaluating the impact of sub-federal governments in Canadian and American foreign trade policy

Christopher J. Kukucha

Abstract/Résumés This study will argue that federalism in Canada and the United States, especially its institutional form and practice, directly impacts the influence of sub-federal governments in the negotiation and implementation of international trade agreements. In highlighting the durability of domestic federal institutions, it challenges “decline of the state” arguments often found in the international relations and global political economy literature. It also expands traditional studies of federalism beyond questions of centralization/decentralization and the impact of globalization on federal systems. Case studies include the Canada-United States “Buy American” Procurement Agreement, the Canada - European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and several international trade disputes involving American states.


Canadian Foreign Policy Journal | 2008

Canadian foreign policy: A progressive or stagnating field of study?

Paul Gecelovsky; Christopher J. Kukucha

Almost a decade ago, Kim Richard Nossal wrote an article concerning the growth of international relations (IR) as a discipline within the Canadian academy.1 In the paper, Nossal argued that the study of IR and Canadian foreign policy (CFP) had undergone growth spurts in the 1970s and 1980s and that, partly as a result of that growth, both fields had become more Canadianized. The purpose of this paper is to update and extend that part of Nossal’s analysis that concerns the study of CFP within the Canadian academy. In assessing the current state of CFP, the paper borrows from Imre Lakatos the notions of progress and stagnation to characterize a field of study.2 The concepts of progress and stagnation are not directly applicable to the study of IR in general,3 or CFP in particular, as the criteria outlined by Lakatos pertain more to the natural than the social sciences. Nonetheless, what is relevant is the idea of a field of study, including CFP, falling somewhere along a continuum marked by the poles of progress and stagnation. The issue, then, becomes what criteria are used to determine progress and stagnation. A progressive field of study is one which is characterized by a professoriate who:


Canadian Journal of Political Science | 2015

Internal Trade Agreements in Canada: Progress, Complexity and Challenges

Christopher J. Kukucha

Despite criticism of ongoing protectionism, this study argues that Canadas internal trade regime has evolved significantly since the implementation of the original Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT). This includes thirteen formal amendments to the AIT and numerous regional agreements in Western, Central, and Atlantic Canada. Borrowing from the liberal International Political Economy (IPE) literature it argues that existing regional agreements complement and offer a potential framework for broader internal trade reforms at the national level. Of these the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA) offers a promising model for Canadas internal market, with revised rules and norms related to negative lists, labour mobility, procurement, and investment and dispute settlement. Ongoing efforts to remove barriers will also be linked to a strengthened Internal Trade Secretariat, confidence-building measures, increased transparency and further reform of technical language.


American Review of Canadian Studies | 2011

Foreign Policy Reviews and Canada's Trade Policy: 1968–2009

Paul Gecelovsky; Christopher J. Kukucha

Governments, upon assuming office, most often seek to refocus foreign policy according to the preferences of the new prime minister and the primary means of accomplishing this has been to release a white paper outlining the priorities of the new government. This article will demonstrate that discussions of trade issues reinforce existing studies questioning the innovation and impact of white papers. The purpose of this analysis, however, is not to dwell on the utility of white papers and foreign policy reviews but instead search for a deeper understanding of why trade policy is discussed in an unoriginal and superficial manner. The focus of the article is on the period from 1968 to the present.


International Negotiation | 2017

Federalism and Liberalization: Evaluating the Impact of American and Canadian Sub-federal Governments on the Negotiation of International Trade Agreements

Christopher J. Kukucha

This article argues that federal systems in Canada and the United States allow for the successful pursuit of sub-federal offensive and defensive priorities in the negotiation of international trade agreements. It is also clear, however, that the coercive American intrastate system limits the relevance of American states in this process, especially when compared to Canada’s relatively cooperative interstate model. Canadian provinces and territories also benefit from ideational considerations, including policy expertise and trust-ties with federal negotiators, which further strengthens sub-federal legitimacy and influence in this policy area. This study evaluates the incremental and significant impact of Canadian and American sub-federal governments across a number of sectors on the negotiations and final legal texts of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.


Commonwealth & Comparative Politics | 2017

The politics of consistent inconsistency: Canada and Africa in the new millennium

Christopher J. Kukucha

devolving powers from central to regional authorities (p. 265). The last chapter on China by Andre Laliberte presents an ‘interesting example of a failed case of territorial pluralism’ (p. 312). Despite attempts to develop institutions which would protect minorities, Laliberte’s study underlines how large ethnic minorities are denied substantive autonomy by dispersing them across autonomous structures through institutional fragmentation. Basta and Simeon neatly sum up the volume by emphasising the continuing relevance of territorial pluralism as an ‘institutional solution for the management of difference’ (p. 317). A curious omission from this volume is a case study on India. More discussion of cases of failure, such as the Soviet Union and Sudan, would have been helpful. If disparate case studies and the variety of methodology they bring to bear on their cases are the volume’s strength, it is also its weakness. Such case studies are undoubtedly helpful for a comprehensive volume, yet their analytic focus could be further tightened by weaving them around three or four similar key explanatory variables across cases by including the nature of leadership – accommodative or non-accommodative – for example. The authors must however be commended for their tight editing. This is undoubtedly a definitive and comprehensive volume; it will be an invaluable source book for policymakers and scholars alike who have an abiding interest in the management of differences in multinational states.


Journal of Borderlands Studies | 2018

Alberta's Oil Sands Manufacturing Supply-Chain Imports: Evaluating Borders, Boundaries and Borderlands

Christopher J. Kukucha

ABSTRACT Manufacturing supply-chains for Albertas oil sands support the assertion that international and domestic bordering processes are not always territorial. In a previous study the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) determined that domestic exports to Alberta in this supply-chain originated primarily from Ontario and Quebec, and to a lesser degree Saskatchewan. The same study, however, also noted that an additional 50 per cent of sales came from international sources. This article examines trade statistics focusing on these specific Alberta imports, which are historically dominated by three U.S. states (Oklahoma, Illinois, and Texas) in a remarkably consistent range of product areas. Albertas recent surge in trade with China, however, is not related to this supply-chain. As such, trade in Albertas oil sands manufacturing supply-chain is driven by market considerations and expertise in manufacturing specific goods, as opposed to regional or borderland pressures. This supply-chain, however, is relatively underdeveloped compared to other GVCs, thereby supporting a conclusion of differentiated integration in this sub-federal sector.


Canadian Foreign Policy Journal | 2018

Neither adapting nor innovating: the limited transformation of Canadian foreign trade policy since 1984

Christopher J. Kukucha

ABSTRACT Canada failed to respond with innovative solutions to shifting international economic pressures emerging in the 1970s. Canadian trade policy embraced offensive solutions in areas of comparative advantage but not in sectors with high political and economic costs, thereby limiting opportunities to join emerging supply chains outside of North America and hampering goals of reducing reliance on the American market. International trade disputes resulting from these policies also restricted innovation, as did the structures of Canadian federalism, Canada’s regional political economy, the country’s industrial policy and internal trade regimes, limits on bureaucratic capacity, and pressures from non-governmental interests. Where innovation did exist, it occurred incrementally and asymmetrically across sectors, while usually prioritizing offensive economic interests.


International Journal | 2014

International relations theory and Canadian foreign trade policy

Christopher J. Kukucha

This study evaluates the application of international relations theory in the Canadian foreign trade policy literature. It determines that studies can now be categorized into several groups, including: traditional power-based approaches; the content and negotiation of international trade agreements; the globalization of public policy; federalism and international trade; North American integration; and alternative approaches and new directions. For the most part, however, international relations theory is applied unevenly and implicitly in studies of Canadian foreign trade policy, if at all, with an emphasis on realist and neo-liberal approaches highlighting Canada as a principal, dependent, or middle power. It is argued that a greater emphasis on international relations theory, focusing on the level-of-analysis problem, non-state actors, and normative considerations, would improve the understanding and evaluation of Canada’s global trade relations for academics and practitioners.

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