Ontario foot-dragging imperils Canada-EU trade pact, officials say

The real question is, do we really want a freedom of labour agreement with Europe?

I for one, don't. Especially with countries like Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria and so on having standards of living no-where near ours, and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Europe can keep its labour. Canada has nothing to gain from a labour agreement. We already receive 270,000 people here.

A NAFTA type deal would be satisfactory however.

Free movement of labour with Europe? Not a fucken chance, Europe is filling up faster with scum than the Titanic did with water

Do you guys even have a clue what you're talking about? It would mean exclusive bidding by only Canadian companies might be jeopardized. It doesn't mean Renault can open a plant in Oshawa and staff it with Turks from the seedy side of Marseilles.
It would also mean us as a conduit between NAFTA and the EU and our workers competing against the UK, France and Germany instead of nickel an hour at gunpoint.
I fail to see a bad side to an EU agreement.

Yes it does, well not Turks since they aren't technically in the EU yet. Free labour movement means you can have an office, plant or factory and not hire a single person from the country where the office/plant/factory is located. Free labour movements also usually means that said person is not subjected to host countries taxes, its like when an American comes and works in Canada, they get any income they paid to the Canadian government back.

I don't have a problem with free trade with the EU in fact I support it, but anything that is even close to the current EU's free labour movement is a big no go for me

I kinda doubt a European Company would start a business here and staff it with all Foreign Workers, just doesn't seem practical. What they might do is staff Management or some particular higher skill Jobs with their own European employees. So I am not too worried about that provision, because even if they did that, those Workers are going to be Buying things here and will be Paying Taxes as well.

The Government acquisitions issue is somewhat also kinda not too big a deal IMO. We already have something similar with NAFTA IIRC and having it with the EU just opens up more possibilities. The BC Government recently bought a new Car Ferry that was built in Germany, for eg. So it seems like we'll likely be going in that direction Agreement or not.

I think the advantage to such an agreement for us is in Selling what we have most of. That is Commodities. I think we should get this Deal done, for it could be what allows us to be less reliant on the US Economy.

I hope we can come to an agreement with the EU, just to balance our reliance with the US. Even the free movement of labor might not be a bad thing, if we were to stop importing immigrants to make up for it. This is all predicated on the idea that the EU will get it's act together, otherwise we'll be flooded with poor Europeans the way England was with Poles etc. Of course now Poland is doing better, and Germans are going to Poland to work.

Oh, and Korben, Herbie was talking about Turks from Marseilles - ie all the Turks that wound up in Europe as guest workers and wound up staying, causing all kinds of problems. Free labor movement only works if you have comparable economies participating in it.

We will be flooded by Europeans for our standards of living.

Also, most European countries have free higher education. This would put Canadian Loan Students at a job disadvantage. They won't find jobs, they won't pay back their loans, and so on.

Even the third world immigrants here pay for their education in their home countries.

Also how long before the EU bureaucrats begin dictating provincial laws and regulations?

This sort of agreement requires an in-depth national discussion.

It's always good for a laugh when people like Europeans make accusations of "protectionism" against others. This is a good illustration of how inherently flawed all "free trade" negotiations are. To expect a trade partner to toss out domestic employee or environmental protection is patently ridiculous. And people thought that dealing with the Americans on non-stop migraines like trade was bad enough, just wait until we're subjected to incessant complaining and interference from Europe. At least the Yanks occupy the same ground as we do and have a general idea of what's going on locally. The Europeans don't and never will. They still think it's the 1850's and Canada's just a collection of punk-ass colonials that they can push around. If I were in charge we'd be walking away from this one ASAP with both middle fingers in the air.

I think free-trade on OUR terms can only be a good thing. Sod the politics of it all, freer markets means more cash for Canada.

The problem is that it never gets done on Canada's terms, not even when they come up here to take our stuff from us. If anything had been judged in Canada's favour then the Western cattle industry wouldn't have been nearly destroyed by a protectionist boycott in the US that was deliberately designed to aid the American hicks who run the diseased and hazardous McHell feedlots down in Texas. If we can't win a fight against a bunch of Slim Pickens-wannabes with too much clout in Washington DC then we're certainly not going to win any fight against the bureaucrats in Brussels who have the whole legal and political power of the European Union at their disposal.

If Britain can't ring out concessions from Brussels, I don't see how Canada will.

The EU is primarily controlled by France and Germany. They will simply "impose" on us like they did their flawed constitution on their own people, even after 2 "NO" referendum results.

The seal product ban is a taste of European policy to come.

Let's not even bring the Oil Sands into it.

Did you read that this is a Trade Agreement with the EU, we're not joining the bloody EU?
We're in an agreement with a fucked up country like Mexico and you're worrying about France and Germany?

We don't have a freedom of labour agreement with NAFTA and Latin American nations.

We certainly shouldn't get coerced into one with Europe.

With the EU I believe free-trade would be beneficial, its the labour part I'm worried about.