The Man that Made Free Trade Possible in Canada

The man that made free trade possible in Canada. He has saved Canadian companies and citizens billions of dollars since 1994. The person that I am talking about is none other than Brian Mulroney who served as the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993. In Mulroney’s early life he lived in a remote and isolated area in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, while being raised by Irish Canadian Catholic parents. Mulroney attended Dalhousie Law School in Halifax, but then became ill and flunked out in his first year. He then applied to Laval University where he met future Premiere Daniel Johnson and became friends with many other future politicians Lucien Bouchard, Bernard Roy, Michel Cogger, Michael Meighen, and Jean Bazin. In 1984 he became the 18th Prime Minister of Canada. Some of his most notable accomplishments and ideas were probably, most notably NAFTA, Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accords. NAFTA stands for the North American Free Trade Agreement. It as created on January, 1st, 1994.

NAFTA is the world's largest free trade zone including the three largest countries in North America, Canada, the United States of America and Mexico. This agreement has saved many companies, businesses, and people billions of dollars over the years. Although Quebec is part of Canada, they haven’t always gotten along with Anglophone Canada. In 1987, at the height of Quebec separatism, Prime Minister Mulroney thought of a way to solve the problems and differences between the Quebec and the rest of Canada. The Meech Lake Accord was a meeting with each province’s premieres. The idea was that they would revise Canada’s constitution in a way that would respect Quebec’s unique identity, but also bring all of Canada together as a cohesive whole. Quebec ended up rejecting the proposed constitutional changes.

Five years later, in 1992, Mulroney decided to hold a similar meeting - The Charlottetown accord. The Charlottetown accord was also rejected although this time by other provinces. Brian Mulroney has made many contributions to Canadian citizens and corporations. He also introduced the federal goods and services tax (GST). By doing this he balanced Canada’s budget over time. Brian Mulroney is currently 78 years old and still helps out with the Conservative Party of Canada from time to time. Application of Charter of Rights and Freedoms In this article written in October of 2017, the Nova Scotia teachers union (NSTU) was accused of not complying to Bill 75. NSTU members work in 9300 schools and thus are affected by this decision. The NSTU claims that Bill 75 violates their right to freedom of association and their right to freedom of expression. The NSTU argued that Bill 75 made it almost impossible to bargain with the government. They also argue that their freedom of expression and peaceful protest was violated because following the bill they were pushed out of a legal strike position. The government argued that the teachers “failed to respect a process of meaningful and good faith consultation and negotiation.”

The NSTU believe that the government failed to bargain in good faith which is required under the Charter of Canadian Rights and Freedoms. Section 2 from the Charter of Canadian Rights and Freedoms is being in this example is. Section 2 states “Freedom of Thought, Belief, Opinion, and Expression, including Freedom of Political Expression, Freedom of Commercial Expression, Public Access and Media Issues, Censorship/Obscenity, Hate Propaganda, Picketing/Demonstrations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (Section 2(c)), Freedom of Association (Section 2(d)). Bill 75 violates; their Freedom of Peaceful Assembly which falls under section 2c and it also violates Freedom of Association which falls under section 2d from the Charter of Canadian Rights and Freedoms. This section was violated because if the teachers were to go on strike then they would break their contracts which is illegal and the government didn’t give the teachers the opportunity to bargain and therefore does not allow them to associate as well as not allowing them to organize a peaceful assembly.

The Canadian Government has made many contributions to society that I would personally classify as “good.” The government has also made many decisions that I think are terrible. A positive contribution that the government has made recently is expanding the subway and the whole public transit system as a whole. The current TTC subway can take you almost anywhere in the Toronto city limits. It will make it easier for people from Vaughan to access the inner city. The plan is for there to be five new stations added. Something that the Canadian government has done that I disagree with is rewriting Bill C-51. Bill C-51 states is “An Act to enact the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act and the Secure Air Travel Act, to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts” I disagree with this idea of rewriting this Bill because the Government's number one most important responsibility is to protect Canadian citizens. This bill helps our Government to protect us and I don’t like that they are making it easier for potential terrorists to get into our country.

Another decision that the Government has made that I do not agree with is giving free tuition to college and university students in Ontario. Not everyone would get free tuition though. You would only obtain this benefit if you earn under a certain amount of money per year. I disagree with the Government doing this because 100% of the funding is coming from the taxpayer's pockets. According to taxfoundation.org, nearly half of all taxpayers in Toronto are 45 and older. This proves that at least 50% of the people paying for the program are not being benefited. Recently, marijuana has been deemed more acceptable in society. This initiative by the current Liberal Government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau I strongly agree with. I agree with what the Government is doing by legalizing marijuana because there aren't many downsides to this. It would generate billions of dollars for the Government and it would it would take weed dealers off the streets and force them to get real jobs. The government has made some great contributions and some terrible ones as well.