Canada gives public a glance at its game plan ahead of critical NAFTA talks
OTTAWA — Chrystia Freeland has given Canadians a look at their government’s strategy as it prepares to go nose-to-nose with the country’s biggest trading partner in crucial NAFTA talks.
The foreign affairs minister laid out Ottawa’s core objectives Monday, two days before negotiations on a new North American Free Trade Agreement are to begin.
The Canadian list, far shorter than the one released last month by the United States, sets out about a half-dozen goals that involve playing both offence and defence.
They include a push for more access to government procurement, improved mobility for professionals, protecting Canadian rights to supply management and an openness to reform of the investor-state dispute settlement process, as long as it ensures governments hold on to their right to regulate in the public interest.