What Do Canadians Want in North America?
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200305800311 |
| Date | 01 September 2003 |
| Author | Judith Maxwell |
| Published date | 01 September 2003 |
| Subject Matter | Couchiching Debates “The Big Idea” |
COUCHICHING
DEBATES
"THE
BIG
IDEA"
JUDITH
MAXWELL
What
do
Canadians
want
in
North
America?
Coming ofage
in
Canada
MUCH
DISCUSSION
AT
THIS
CONFERENCE
has
focused
on
trade
and
other
economic
issues.
In
these two
aspects
of
life,
Canada
and
the
United
States
are
integrating.
In
contrast,
however,
this
discussion
addresses
socio-political
issues,
where
the
two
countries
are
diverging.
How
can
we
converge
and
diverge
at
the
same time?
This
is
a
fascinat-
ing
situation, and
I
want
to begin by reflecting
briefly
on
the
econom-
ic
integration.
THE
ECONOMIC
CONTEXT
We have
come
a
long
way since
the
1980s,
when Canadians
were
lamenting,
yet
again,
the
dreadful
state
of
our
competitiveness.
As
a
people,
we
were
nervous
about
free
trade.
We
had
a
vigorous
national
debate on
this
and
decided
to
go
forward.
As
trade
barriers
fell,
business
on
both
sides
of
the
border
reorga-
nized
to
take
advantage
of
the
new
market
access.
That
was
a
momen-
tous
change,
but
there
were
many
other
forces
of
change
in
the
1990s:
Judith
Maxwell
is
President
and
Founder
of
Canadian
Policy
Research
Networks
(CPRN),
a
new
kind
of
think-tank
based
on
networks
of
researchers
and
policy advisors,
founded
in
1995.
A
mem-
ber
of
the
Order
of
Canada
and
on
the
Board
ofDirectors
ofBCE, Inc.,
she
has
been
awarded
hon-
orary
degrees
by
seven
Canadian
universities.
With
extensive experience
in
both
public
andprivate
sector
think-tanks,
she
is
the
former
chair
of
the
Economic
Council
of
Canada,
and
has
worked
as
a
consultant,
as
Director
ofPolicy Studies
at
the
C.D.
Howe
Institute,
and
as
a
journalist.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL Summer
2003
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