NDP And Free Trade

Even though it never gets that many votes, there’s no question in my mind that the NDP has been a major bonus to the Canadian political scene. The amount of positive ideas that this party has presented and defended is just staggering. Medicare, women’s rights, social safety, affordable housing, and the list goes on.

But unfortunately, their views are sometimes overly simplistic and ignorant of economic reality. That is the case in one of their most recent fights: killing the negotiations for a free-trade agreement with South-Korea.

Free-trade isn’t always a good thing; we’ve had plenty of examples of that with NAFTA. As is normally the case with commercial agreements, there are winners and losers. But a trade barrier is a trade barrier, and in a globalizing world, there’s increasing evidence that they’re bad for the economy. The more countries there are competing (globalization means that number will increase rapidly), the more a small edge becomes important. And if Canadian firms lose their edge in Korea to other countries with free-trade agreements, such as the US, the economy will ultimately be hurt. This may be a gross simplification, but it’s what the economists are saying.

The NDP just doesn’t understand. The mere thought of auto jobs being lost to the Koreans is too much to handle, even though free trade would be good for the economy. That’s the trouble with having your heart in the right place: it sometimes makes you irrational.