Governance Dilemmas in Canada, North America, and Beyond: A Tribute to Stephen Clarkson

North America has been an experimental and influential model of trade and economic integration. Clarkson studied, analyzed, and discussed North America as a region and how it shaped and influenced Canadian foreign policy as well as Canadian politics and society. This chapter explores three topics that I consider central to several of his scientific contributions. The first one is the singular importance of the world economic system and the emergence of powerful multinational corporations as pivotal actors in the world economy. The second is the growth in social inequality associated with free trade agreements in North America. The third is the transformative impact of regional economic integration models on the dynamics of state sovereignty that also integrate a comparative perspective in the political economy of regionalism and inter-regionalism.

Underlying much of Stephen Clarkson’s insightful analysis over the years was his preoccupation with the tension in Canada between nationalism and continentalism. This chapter focuses on the ways in which his work explored the ideological and institutional manifestations of these forces as they affected Canada’s place in North America. Central to Stephen Clarkson’s analysis was the political economy of free trade, and most significantly the ongoing debate over the role of the state versus that of the market in Canadian policy-making. This chapter suggests his contributions to understanding the parameters and implications of this debate will stand as a lasting legacy of his work.

Among the themes explored by Stephen Clarkson, his interest in the transnational governance consequences of free-trade agreements and globalized economic networks retains relevance. Clarkson argued that commitments in international agreements like WTO, NAFTA, and CETA have constitutional implications by redefining the powers of elected officials and limiting democratic responsiveness. As Canada implements new and revised deals, the consequences for domestic governance are amplified. This chapter will focus on potential quasi-constitutional elements in CETA which have the potential to transform elements of the federal provincial relationship without the popular input and ratification expected after Meech Lake. The chapter uses Clarkson’s insights to assess whether such a comprehensive economic agreement can sustain legitimacy without public consultation and ratification. It assesses implications for the scholarly consensus that constitution making requires ratification by referenda and demonstrates the relevance of Clarkson’s perspectives, as supra-national constitutionalism remains a contested theme in liberal democratic governance.

For more than two decades the WTO has been paralyzed by the failure to conclude the Doha Round. In retrospect, it can be seen that the WTO was oversold as a tough-minded, no-nonsense regulator of the world trading system with its system of enforceable rules. It promised a level playing-field for all its members; it made a commitment to give developing countries improved market-access in the global North for their industries as well as carveouts from some WTO rules and practices. In the Clarkson gaze, he saw something askew with these neoliberal trade policies. Export centric mega-deals went beyond their original mandate. They became investor-centric agreements that challenged the state’s competence to regulate effectively in the public interest. The result was a growing backlash from social movements and NGOs. In Europe, grassroots social movements mobilized protesters against the Canada–EU Comprehensive Trade agreement and other trade agreements undermining a country’s sovereignty unsuccessfully.

The text shows that Stephen Clarkson, who pioneered an original Canadian foreign policy, was worried by the Free Trade Agreement with the United States (and NAFTA). He was concerned by the absence of a true governance in the domains of the environment and labour in North America. Clarkson was also worried by the creation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, in which the United States ignores its partners and often takes unilateral measures. He anticipated the problems of our time, which were amplified during Trump’s presidency. We argue that Canada’s ability to react must be used at the same time it diversifies its relationships with other partners. Unfortunately, the agreements with the EFTA, the EU, and the CPTPP are not enough. The goals of the Liberal government, presented by Chrystia Freeland, at the time Minister of Foreign Affairs in June 2017, could not be implemented.

One of Stephen Clarkson’s major contributions was his examination of the asymmetrical relationships within the North American region. This chapter examines his thinking about the nature of the Canada–Mexico relationship within the broader North American region. It draws on his concept of the “solidarity of the weak” to analyse the promise and obstacles to greater cooperation between the two weaker NAFTA (and USMCA) partners. The chapter reviews the historical relationship between the two countries, and the way in which cooperation and mutual trust grew over time within the context of the NAFTA agreement. It then looks at how that relationship was tested by the attempts of the Trump administration to divide and conquer its two neighbours. It concludes by arguing that the election of Joe Biden may pave the way for a more harmonious relationship between Canada and Mexico.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) constituted a triumph for commercial liberalism. Its strength derived from the commitment of its members to liberalism, materialized in the free exchange of goods. Even if these principles did not extend to other spheres, liberalism buttressed the initiatives of the Agreement and constituted the main pillar of the loose governance of the region. It was precisely the commitment to such principles that compensated a lack of strong governance structures. However, these principles showed signs of waning during the negotiation of the new version of NAFTA. The hypothesis is that despite the recent setbacks in the United States’ commitment to liberal principles, these are now defended by stakeholders, being embedded in North American societies. The presence of these stakeholders will prevent further setbacks in the current governance arrangements.

The meeting of the North and South of the American continent awakened reflection to Stephen’s categories of analysis on autonomy and national balances as a promising path of greater democratic quality of the people, reaffirming social justice, ecological sustainability, and active civic democracy. The new regional forms of integration, the globalizing dynamics of the States and Global Economic Groups are present, articulating the procedures of transnational governance and dependency. Processes ordered by the neoconservative paradigm, outlined in the modality of staples, transnational governance, provincial and municipal autonomy, the constitution of new supranational blocks. The work also observes the integration processes in the South through the behaviour of Argentina and Brazil’ governments and the loss of entity and crisis of the regional blocks.

Based on his social background and elite early education, one might have anticipated for Stephen Clarkson a fairly conventional and conservative career, perhaps in finance or law. In fact, his graduate studies abroad as well as the experiences of the late 1960s he shared with his generation gave a famously critical edge to the dynamic and influential scholarly career that he eventually chose to pursue. Throughout that career, he expressed high hopes for a better Canada in a fairer and more sustainable world. With a skeptical perspective, his research described and assessed the post-war transformation of Canada within a rapidly changing global economy. That research, perhaps especially including his empirically informed critique of neoliberalism, transformed him too, just as it energized his teaching and inspired the next generation.