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EU chief opens door for Canada to become 'associate member'

693 points · 905 comments · hackernj

  1. neom · · focus · HN ↗
    No idea what this actually means, if it means easier trade, I'm all for anything that reduces our dependency on the yanks, as long as we don't need to be involved in their regulatory or legal regimes. The Americans are no longer our friends, Salut, mes amis Européens. :)
    1. cmrdporcupine · · focus · HN ↗
      CETA (free trade) already exists with the EU. What is happening here is mostly symbolism and diplomacy. And maybe it will lead to the last hold out EU member states fully ratifying CETA (French farmers famously difficult).

      Many people (including Carney himself) are presenting this as a fundamental and recent pivot.

      But the opening moves of this happened a long time ago. CETA was negotiated by Chrystia Freeland and the now-often-maligned Trudeau gov't.

      (also Trudeau also had a honeymoon phase for the first two to three years of his term...)

      1. momocowcow · · focus · HN ↗
        It was initially an effort from the conservatives, not the liberals.
        1. cmrdporcupine · · focus · HN ↗
          Canada has Coke and Pepsi flavours of gov't. The differences between the two parties comes down to stupid culture wars stuff and perhaps emphasis on which sectors should dominate the economy, but they don't fundamentally differ.

          Carney just eviscerated all environmental laws and climate change initiatives and cons back in my home province of Alberta are still apoplectic about how persecuted they are. It's all team sport theatre. Dangerously close to US style dysfunction.

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