If Canadian governments cannot fix the Agreement , Ottawa should consider using its constitutional power to establish clear and enforceable trade rules for interprovincial trade within Canada. In many ways, trade between Canada, the United States and Mexico is now freer than trade within Canada, Knox writes. This weakens Canada economically and politically. Noting that federal and provincial governments have just initiated a series of public discussions on the Agreement , Knox details how the Agreement can be fixed. The most pressing need is for a dispute resolution process that works, Knox says.
Governments are free to flaunt it with no penalty.
The only enforcement mechanism in the Agreement is itself perverse. A provincial government may retaliate against another provincial government that has failed to implement an Agreement -based finding. To give the Agreement teeth, Knox suggests that aggrieved parties should be allowed to sue governments that flaunt the Agreement . The Forum article provides several case studies showing how ineffectual the Agreement has become. A Case Study.