Canadian Foreign Policy and International Economic Regimes

Gregory A. Johnson is an assistant professor of history at the
University of Alberta.

This book comprises papers presented at the Conference on Canada and
International Economic Regimes, which was held at UBC in May 1990. The
editors are political scientists affiliated with the university’s
Institute of International Relations. This volume reflects what the
editors hoped to achieve: an interdisciplinary approach to the study of
Canada’s foreign economic policy. The contributors are specialists in
their respective fields (surprisingly, there is not a historian among
them).

Four broad areas relating to Canada and foreign economic policy are
examined: international trade, finance, service industries, and
resources and the environment. A consistent theme is that Canada’s
commitment to multilateralism and trade liberalization has been
exaggerated. The essays stress those aspects of Canadian foreign policy
that appear to be anti-multilateral and anti-liberal. Various authors
describe Canadian policy as “mercantilist-multilateralism,” meaning
that Canadian policy-makers have often used multilateralism to promote
protectionist rather than liberal trade policies. Another theme that
emerges is the influence of domestic factors on the development of
foreign economic policy. The essays also tend to question the notion of
Canada as a “principal power.” For those not familiar with the
current jargon, the language used in this book can be fairly alienating.
Nevertheless, the volume is full of useful information and provides a
new avenue for inquiry and analysis. Those schooled in the old
liberal-internationalist tradition of Canadian foreign policy will
probably cringe at some of the conclusions, for there is certainly an
implicit criticism of the so-called Golden Era of Canadian foreign
policy. Still, this is a welcome addition to a growing body of
literature that challenges previous treatments of Canadian foreign
policy.