newsworld.cbc.ca
WebPosted Wed Jun 23 08:56:58 1999
OTTAWA - So, what do you think about an open border and a common currency with the United States? Those are just two of the ideas the federal cabinet will discuss at a two-day cabinet retreat next week, CBC News has learned.
Sources told CBC News that federal ministers will engage in a "blue sky" discussion of Canada's entire economic relationship with the United States.
'I don't see any Americans talking about a common currency': Martin
A decade ago, when they were in opposition, the Liberals were deeply opposed to free trade. Over the course of the last 10 years Liberal thinking has turned upside down.
Ties getting stronger
Canada's economic ties with the United States are getting stronger. Before the North American Free Trade Agreement began, 75 per cent of Canada's exports went the U.S. The post-NAFTA figure is 85 per cent.
Canada is now looking at the model of the European Union as an example of an economic arrangement with no customs, no duties and no borders between its member countries.
Canada is also interested in following the model of the Euro, a single currency for Europe, and applying that same concept to North America. It's an idea that was once considered unthinkable.
Some Canadian economists are coming around to the notion of single North American currency.
On Tuesday the C.D. Howe Institute issued a report saying: "Canada's floating exchange rate is not serving the country's economic interests well and the solution could be to work towards establishing a North American currency union."
Martin rejects report
Finance Minister Paul Martin rejected the Howe report. "I don't see any Americans talking about a common currency," he said.
"They're talking about the utilization of the American dollar. That would not be a good thing for Canada, neither for the Canadian economy, nor would it reflect the differences in our respective economies."
Yet Raymond Chretien, Canada's ambassador to Washington, recently gave a speech in the U.S. in which he floated the question: "Would the Americans be interested in a customs union and a common currency?"
He continued: "If Canada were willing, would the U.S. Congress be prepared to consider new treaties and political arrangements that would further codify our future together?"
Economics aside, the politics of moving so much closer to the Americans are risky. No one would know more about that than the Liberals, who once campaigned against a move to bring the countries closer together.
But some Liberals believe much more change is coming and they want to prepare for the inevitable by leading the parade rather than following. |
