Free Trade Between Canada and the United States: Political Parties, Plurality and the Formulation of Trade Policy

What influence do national political parties have on Canadian foreign economic policy? In this essay I establish the role federal parties have in shaping Canada-U.S. trade policy. To do this, I compare the 1911 election over trade reciprocity with America, to the 1988 election on the Free Trade Agreement. First, I give a brief overview Canada’s first-past-the-post electoral system and its role in distorting voter preferences; second, I evaluate the effect of party alliances in the 1911 election, and the subsequent rejection of reciprocity; third, I examine the role of party division in the 1988 election, which led to the adoption of the Free Trade Agreement. Both contests saw segments of the population for and against free trade. In each case, the outcome of preferences in Parliament was different. The two elections highlight the importance of party politics in shaping foreign policy. Federal parties must recognise the need to work together on foreign policy issues to ensure majoritarian opinion is not divided by the first-past-the-post electoral system.