Shifting ground: Canada’s position

Publicly, Canada’s minister for international trade says health and education services are "not up for discussion." But he doesn’t guarantee that Canada will seek specific exemptions for these vital services. Meanwhile, behind the scenes the groundwork is quietly being laid.

As part of the hemispheric trade talks, Canada agreed to negotiate an agreement covering trade in services. This agreement would "apply to all service sectors and to all modes of supply" without discrimination. The United States now plans to apply this model to the GATS.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade recently distributed a survey to Canadian service providers that promoted the "benefits" of free trade in services. It was notably silent on the fact that if public services fall under the GATS, foreign for-profit corporations would move in and take them over.

Around the same time, a US trade publication reported that Canada had joined with the US, European Union and Japan to pursue "extensive liberalization" by taking on "a commitment such as the right of establishment or national treatment, and apply them across all services sectors."

And an internal WTO memo comments that Canada wanted some language in the GATS text to be suppressed, not over concerns about education and health, but "because of the sensitivities of ‘cultural industries’ back home."

The stark contradictions between Canada’s public face on trade in services and the government’s behind the scenes dealings suggest that those concerned about public services being engulfed by the GATS have reason to worry.