Commodity exports from Western Canada have increased dramatically since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1993, says a report from the University of Alberta.
“The Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement and the NAFTA appear to have contributed significantly to Alberta’s and Western Canada’s export growth,” said the report from the Western Centre for Economic Research at the Edmonton-based university.
It did not offer an analysis of whether the increase in exports has led to an increase in profitability in Canada. And it does not discuss continued trade disruptions despite free trade rules.
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Critics note that while the value of food exports has soared under free trade, farm incomes have stalled or declined. Increased trade has led to greater corporate profits that have often not flowed back to the farm.
The study dealt only with dollar values of trade.
“Of the $122 billion of Western Canada’s total exports in 2004, 79.7 percent went to NAFTA countries compared to 52.4 percent of $40 billion in 1988.”
Economists Wade Church, Michael Padua and Monic Willner produced statistics to show that agricultural products ranging from grain to meat and vegetables accounted for more than $12 billion of western Canadian exports in 2004, more than 10 percent of the total.
Percentage increases for exports from Alberta since 1993 ranged from 357 percent for live hog exports and almost 500 percent for beef cuts, to 357 percent for wheat.
The figures were published as prime minister Paul Martin and other national leaders were questioning the effectiveness of the NAFTA agreement, accusing the Americans of undermining it by ignoring rules on dispute settlement decisions on softwood lumber and wheat disputes.
Martin has said American refusal to abide by a NAFTA panel decision against the U.S. and $5 billion in duties it has collected illegally on softwood lumber exports from Canada throws the legitimacy of NAFTA rules into doubt.
Government officials have also condemned relentless and typically unsuccessful challenges against the Canadian Wheat Board as harassment.
