Fixed election dates,

[boarderbloke]

Another question,,,when will the NDP pay back all that money to Canadian taxpayers that they swindled away with their creative accounting and legal advice setting up fake offices???

[jake550]

Riders....
For someone to think Harper has that much power to control when a deal of this magnatude goes down is gotta be a record level of ridiculousness that I've ever read on here.
Yep he had it all planned to happen two weeks before the election.
Come on now, please tell me you're not serious!!

[riders2010]

I agree ndp should pay that back if they owe it. I honestly don't know all the details.

What power do you have to have if you know the other country won't sign unless you give something up. All you do is wait right? Not that difficult.

[mustardman]

One of the Richest countries is Not in this trade deal or any other except WTO.
Norway,
this way they Know they will not give up soverignty of their country to XYZ corporation

[BreadWinner]

Norway???? What so we have in common with norway? Not much other than some oil. But that is about to change. North sea oil is starting to taper off and they are a welfare state. Sure they have billions in savings but we all know what happens when all your eggs are in one basket. The gov or unions arnt willing to talk about cuts to decrease spending with oils downturn. What can we learn from this??? Dont elect the NDP with billions earmarked for social programs and no plans for income to offset this boondoggle.

[Jay-mo]

Just checking but Norway's not in the Pacific right??

[TOM4CWB]

Jay-mo,

A LITTLE funny... and ironic.. since Canada already has a Bi-lateral Free Trade agreement with Norway.... since 2009!

"Canada - European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
In force since July 2009.

The free trade agreement (FTA) between Canada and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland is a goods-only agreement with an emphasis on tariff elimination. It establishes a commitment to review the Agreement with a view to considering the scope for possible expansion of the FTA into areas such as services, investment, and intellectual property at a later date.

For more information, please see: additional background information on the Canada-European Free Trade Association Free Trade Agreement.

Bilateral Agreements
Text of the Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement"

[dmlfarmer]

Actually Tom, the Canada/EFTA was a Liberal initiative started in 1998. It did conclude as you point out under Harper in 2007 and enacted in 2009.

But seeing as you credit this to Harper, I want to know the impact this has had in the last 6 years. How much have tariff rates actually dropped? How much has our exports to the EFTA countries increased since 2009? What has been the actual economic benefits for Canada from this deal?

[Braveheart]

One has to think, no matter who was governing at the time, that Canada is pretty well positioned re trade. We have NAFTA, the Euro deal, now TPP. Is any other country as well set?

[Jay-mo]

The Americans and Russians are still ahead of us, what with their ability to bomb a country into the stone age and appoint a new government.

[LEP]

Anyone remember other free trade agreement negotiations, gatt, etc. They all involve years of negotiation and all nighters at the end to finalize.

To say Canada could set the final dealing date of a 12 nation agreement is a complete joke.

If anything I think the conservatives would have preferred to have this done last winter so it could be passed prior to the election.

[LEP]

Anyone remember other free trade agreement negotiations, gatt, etc. They all involve years of negotiation and all nighters at the end to finalize.

To say Canada could set the final dealing date of a 12 nation agreement is a complete joke.

If anything I think the conservatives would have preferred to have this done last winter so it could be passed prior to the election.