“We need the CCPA to remind us that our dreams of a decent, egalitarian society are reasonable — indeed that with a little work, they are practical. And I love that practicality, that protection of the dream of the possible.”
— Naomi Klein
National Office | Update
Projects & Initiatives: Trade and Investment Research Project
February 8, 2010
A new analysis by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives finds the early praise given to the tentative Buy American deal is undeserved.
The deal gives Canada fleeting access to stimulus projects worth $US 4-5 billion, less than 2% of the $275 billion of procurement funded under the Recovery Act. Given the late hour, Canadian suppliers can expect to see very little practical benefit. In return for these meagre scraps, the provinces and municipalities have offered up temporary access to U.S. suppliers worth an estimated $CAD 25 billion. Worse, Canada has bowed to U.S. pressure to bind purchasing by Canadian provincial governments under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, severely curtailing the use of procurement as a public policy tool.
The full study, Buy American Basics, by CCPA senior researcher Scott Sinclair, is available here.