Faith and Fear: The Free Trade Story

Edelgard E. Mahant is a political sciences professor at Laurentian
University.

This is undoubtedly the best single account to date of the Canada–U.S.
free trade negotiations. The authors do a superb job of tracing the
origins of the 1985 Canadian decision to negotiate free trade with the
United States. There is also a good, brief summary of the contents of
the agreement (Chapter 4), and an excellent description of the
negotiations (Chapter 7). For the most part, the book is also clearly
written, with brief but clear analytical tables and a minimum of jargon
(though there are some lapses in Chapter 5 and the Conclusions). The
emphasis is on the political story of the FTA; there is no attempt at
economic analysis.

Where the book is less satisfying is in its failure to establish a
framework for evaluating the agreement’s possible political
consequences. Doern and Tomlin try to finesse the issue of sovereignty
versus policy harmonization by developing the concept of “policy
capacity.” The question, they claim, is not whether Canada retains
sovereignty or harmonizes its policies with those of the United States,
but whether Canadian governments at any level maintain the capacity to
make decisions that meet the needs of their peoples. The authors
decline, however, to make any but the briefest of guesses as to the
extent to which the FTA has affected the policy capacity of Canadian
governments.

The authors refuse to join either side of the free trade debate. They
point out the possible economic advantages of free trade, but at the
same time observe that its political success, at least in Canada,
depends on government adjustment policies.

This book is meant to appeal to academics as well as to the informed
general public. Overall, it succeeds in producing something of interest
to both. For those who view politics as a hockey game, Doern and Tomlin
conclude that “the Americans appear to have come out on top in these
free trade negotiations.” For academics who wish to evaluate the
political consequences of the FTA, the book will probably be less
satisfying. They would be wise to take it for what it is—a good and
thorough account of what happened. There is lots of time for analysis
later.