Quote:
Originally Posted by kwoldtimer
"Are they seem to be sleepwalking" (sic). Really? Why would you equate an opening gambit of one side of a bilateral negotiation (if there is one) as having anything to do with an end result? And what do the Chinese Ambassador's views have to do with the Trudeau governments views and future negotiating positions? In a word, nothing.
Give your head a shake. It might comfort you to know that Canada's trade negotiators have a bit of experience at these things.....
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I feel like your response is the inverse of what you're criticizing. Unjustifiably optimistic that everything's above board and we are likely to see a positive agreement with a fair outcome for everyone, because we have a competent and unbiased team of experts at the helm. Or at least that's the impression I get, rightly or wrongly, when you appeal to the expertise of the negotiators like this.
The reality I see is that some demographics in Canada, particularly younger people, have been doing badly for years and the federal government hasn't been effective in causing their living standard to improve instead of worsen. During this period Canada has broadly followed the same liberal economic agenda (free trade, immigration). On top of this, the Liberals and other people who are part of Canada's ruling class have shown that they're pretty cozy with various Chinese billionaires. It doesn't seem like a stretch to believe that rich and privileged people in Canada and abroad get a disproportionate amount of mindshare with the federal government, are are likely to come out on top in trade deals as a result.
It's true that you would need to get a good understanding of the details of the deal to judge it well, and that nobody really knows what the impact of changing trade rules will be exactly, but I see why many people are pessimistic.