Congress to ratify free trade deal with Colombia
Bush Invokes Harper's Comments on Colombia
By Lee Berthiaume, Embassy
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
One congressman says Stephen Harper's comments lend weight to supporting a free trade deal with the Latin American nation.
In an indication that American and Canadian leaders are of the same mind when it comes to the hemisphere, U.S. President George W. Bush quoted Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in calling on Congress to ratify his country's free trade deal with Colombia.
Meanwhile, one Democratic congressman who remains undecided on the deal says the fact that Mr. Harper has added his voice to the American debate will factor into his thinking on the issue.
"He is the leader of Canada," Republican Eliot Engel of New York said in an interview on Monday following a trip to Colombia earlier this month. "Canada has been a very friendly ally to the United States. It lends weight as far as I'm concerned."
In an unusual move last month, Mr. Harper used a presentation to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York to direct a warning to Congress of the implications of rejecting the American-Colombian free trade deal.
Negotiations were completed earlier this year, but the Democrat-controlled Congress, which has been described as trade averse, has taken its time in approving the deal, citing concerns over the state of human and labour rights in the violence-racked country.
Canada, meanwhile, has entered into its own negotiations with Colombia as part of a larger policy of engagement with and support for select Latin American nations that have embraced democracy and open markets.
Mr. Harper used a trip to the region over the summer to sell Canada's economic and social model as a third option that, like the United States, embraces open markets, but also provides social safety nets, though without the Bolivarian protectionism and populism of Venezuela and its allies.
Yet on Oct. 12, Mr. Bush quoted Mr. Harper's New York speech in an address to the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce that carried many of the same themes the Conservatives have used in explaining its Americas strategy.
"If Congress were to reject this committed ally, we would damage America's credibility in the region, and make other countries less willing to co-operate in the future," Mr. Bush said.
"As Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada put it," Mr. Bush continued, "'If the United States turns its back on its friends in Colombia, this will set back our cause far more than any Latin American dictator could hope to achieve.'
"By its bold actions, Colombia has proved itself worthy of America's support–and I urge Congress to pass this vital agreement as soon as possible."
Mr. Bush went on to tout the strategic implications of an agreement with Colombia, noting that the country is "under assault by a formidable network of terrorists and drug traffickers, which has put its democracy at risk," but that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is taking "courageous steps" to fight back.
"Colombia's record is not perfect, but the country is clearly headed in the right direction–and is asking for our help," Mr. Bush said. "Both houses of the Colombian legislature have expressed overwhelming support for the trade agreement with the United States. And now they're waiting to see if we will uphold our end of the deal."
Congress Delay a Sign to Canada: MP
Since being introduced earlier this year, Canada's Americas policy has become steadily clearer and garnered more attention as it has gathered steam. It was reiterated in the throne speech, and commented on in statements made by various parliamentarians over the following week.
"We will strive to enhance security on this continent and to solidify safer, more secure relationships with our neighbours," Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said in the House last Friday. "We will also work to make our economies stronger and more sustainable by promoting free trade agreements."
Canada is currently negotiating free trade agreements with Peru, the Dominican Republic, the 15-member Caribbean Community, the Central American Four bloc of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, as well as Colombia.
"We know that Canada was built on economic freedom. Some 100 years ago, markets started to open," Mr. Bernier added. "We believe that market openness is beneficial to nations in allowing various nations to increase their wealth. In turn, this wealth gives them access to better education and social services.
"We therefore believe that it is important to enter into such free trade agreements, as this will bring prosperity to these countries while fostering prosperity for our Canadian businesses."
But trade deals with Colombia have been particularly contentious, not just in Canada, but also in the U.S. where the Democrat-controlled Congress has refused to approve its own completed agreement due to human and labour rights violations and corruption.
Critics have pointed to Congress's reluctance to finish the deal as a sign that Canada shouldn't even begin negotiations, and warn that now is not the time to begin discussions, and that the Colombian government should not be dealt with.
"At the very same time that we are entering into free trade with the Americas, we have human rights abuses going on in Colombia," NDP Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar said in the House last Friday. "The American Congress has suspended free trade talks with the government of Colombia. Why? Because of the human rights abuses going on."
The counter-argument, as outlined by Mr. Harper, is that the Uribe government has been working to implement open market policies and strengthen democracy, rule of law and human rights within the country. As such, the Uribe administration should be rewarded. If not, there is the risk it could turn to Venezuela and other Bolivarian regimes.
"What the prime minister said is a valid argument," said Mr. Engel, who serves on Congress's foreign affairs committee and is chairman of the subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. "That is certainly a plausible position, one which I'm certainly taking into consideration, and one that I'm weighing very heavily."
However, he remained concerned that attacks on labour activists continue in Colombia and that there is still a large degree of impunity, both of which present strong arguments for him to vote against the deal.
"We need to balance what we think is the right thing to do," he said.
It's unlikely Congress will vote on the Colombia deal until next year, and Mr. Engel said he has encouraged the Colombian government to continue fighting impunity and crack down on labour rights violations.
U.S., Canada Diverge on Security
"In terms of trade and investment liberalization, the Conservative government of Canada and the Bush administration in the United States are identical," Stephen Randall, Fulbright Visiting Chair in North American Studies at American University in Washington, D.C., said when asked about the Canadian and American policies towards the hemisphere. "I don't see any difference."
He also noted that the neo-conservative movement has adopted a policy of democracy promotion abroad, which echoes closely with the Conservative government's stated aims of strengthening democracy in the Americas.
"So you're dealing with some harmonization," he said. "There are parallels here."
However, outside of trade and investment issues, Mr. Randall says, the American and Canadian goals appear to diverge, specifically in terms of security and human rights issues. As a result, Mr. Randall doesn't believe Messrs. Harper and Bush are actually co-ordinating their policies towards the Americas.
"I would be surprised if that was the case," he said. "It doesn't work that way. I think you might find in casual conversations they will have run the gamut of issues, they will have seen some similarities on perspective on a range of things. But is one going to call up the other and say 'Will you support me on a range of things?' Not unless it was really major."
lee@embassymag.ca
