Explaining Canadian politics and international trade.
Raising 3 great kids with @michaelpetrou.
"Heavy rotation on the CBC, whatever in hell that really means"
Oct 20, 2021 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Seems to me that Erin O'Toole's options on the House of Commons vaccine mandate are extremely limited now.
If both the Bloc and, as per latest statement by Blake Richards, CPC oppose a return to hybrid/virtual Parliament... that option would appear to be off the table now. 1/
At start of pandemic, they limited number of MPs physically in House according to seat count, with votes cast in proportional fashion on an emergency basis. I don't see this coming back - denies individual MPs agency, but also, why would other parties indulge it to help CPC? 2/
Jan 8, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Because I know there's anxiety out there, something that's hopefully reassuring:
Despite what Ontario Premier Doug Ford just said about the province running out of vaccines, that is not what the publicly posted data/stats and the briefings from gov't officials are showing/saying.
The federal government sent 148K doses to Ontario by Dec. 31.
(Source: canada.ca/en/public-heal…)
Ontario has administered just over 72K *first and second* doses as of the stats posted by his gov't yesterday:
https://t.co/k7AUu7HFt9
Feb 26, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Global Affairs has just released its economic impact study for the new NAFTA: international.gc.ca/trade-commerce…
More to come...
"As a result, the economic model projects that Canada’s exports of motor vehicles to the United States would decline by US$1.5 billion relative to the current trade regime under NAFTA, and imports from the United States would decrease by US$1.2 billion. ....
Dec 10, 2019 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Quick thread on what Ways and Means committee documents have revealed about the USMCA compromise deal. First, on the Chapter 31 fix: not just removal of language that allowed panel blocking but also new "rules of evidence" - Trade Twitter, help us laymen understand what this is?
2/Verbatim: "Removed language making it difficult to prove that our trading partners are failing to live
up to commitments to protect workers from violence." (what is this/where is this in the deal?)
Nov 29, 2019 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Mexico's Jesus Seade confirms at Ottawa press conference that 'if things go well' the NAFTA 2.0 changes that are coming will fix the panel blocking issue that's dogged NAFTA's dispute resolution process from the start - not just for the labour chapter, but for every chapter.
Seade says what's afoot is called a "protocol of additions and amendments" - adding to existing text, versus re-opening text that was signed a year ago. (which could have been a pandora's box of revisiting concessions!) Working really hard not to say the words side letter here.
May 18, 2019 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
I've slept on it and I'm still thinking about this phrase in yesterday's announcement:
"In monitoring for surges,
either country may treat products made with steel that is melted and poured in
North America separately from products that are not..." 1/?
I'm not an expert on the weeds of the transshipment disputes between Canada and the U.S. on steel, but bottom line: not every mill in Canada makes steel products from iron ore per se. Some work from scrap, some work from slab/other input from outside North America. 2/
