Continentalizing Canada: The Politics And Legacy Of The Macdonald Royal Commission (studies In Comparative Political Economy And Public Policy)

Free trade has been a highly contentious issue since the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney negotiated the first deal with the United States in the 1980s. Tracing the roots of Canada's contemporary involvement in North American free trade back to the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada in 1985 - also known as the Macdonald Commission - Gregory J. Inwood offers a critical examination of the commission and how its findings affected Canada's political and economic landscape, including its present-day reverberations. Using original research - including content analysis, interviews, archival information, and surveys of relevant literature - Inwood argues that the Macdonald Commission created an atmosphere and political discourse that made the continentalization of Canada possible by way of free trade agreements with the U.S. and Mexico. Through the use of a suspect research program, and with the aid of a select oligarchy within the Commission and the government bureaucracy, opposition to continentalism from both the majority of the Canadian population and even several commissioners was ignored. Accessible to readers interested in Canadian politics, policy, or economy, Continentalizing Canada offers a thorough examination into the Macdonald Commission and the resulting discourse in the Canadian political economy. "Free trade has been a highly contentious issue since the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney negotiated the first free trade agreement with the United States in the 1980s. Tracing the roots of Canada's contemporary involvement in North American free trade back to the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada in 1985 - also known as the Macdonald Commission - Gregory J. Inwood offers a critical examination of the work of the commission and its immediate and long-term effects on Canada's political and economic landscape." "Using original research - including content analysis, interviews, archival information, and surveys of relevant literature - Inwood argues that the Macdonald Commission created an atmosphere and political discourse that made the continentalization of Canada possible by way of free trade agreements with the United States and Mexico." "A thorough examination of the politics and legacy of the Macdonald Commission, Continentalizing Canada will be of interest to scholars and practitioners in the areas of Canadian politics, public policy, and economics."--Résumé de l'éditeur "Free trade has been a highly contentious issue since the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney negotiated the first free trade agreement with the United States in the 1980s. Tracing the roots of Canada's contemporary involvement in North American free trade back to the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada in 1985 - also known as the Macdonald Commission - Gregory J. Inwood offers a critical examination of the work of the commission and its immediate and long-term effects on Canada's political and economic landscape." "Using original research - including content analysis, interviews, archival information, and surveys of relevant literature - Inwood argues that the Macdonald Commission created an atmosphere and political discourse that made the continentalization of Canada possible by way of free trade agreements with the United States and Mexico." "A thorough examination of the politics and legacy of the Macdonald Commission, Continentalizing Canada will be of interest to scholars and practitioners in the areas of Canadian politics, public policy, and economics."--Jacket Contents 7 Tables and Figures 11 Tables and Figures 13 Introduction 15 1. Setting the Stage: Canadian Economic Development in the Post-War Years 31 2. The Macdonald Royal Commission: The Struggle Engaged 60 3. Seeking a New Consensus 90 4. The Public Submissions: Reflections in the Mirror of the Macdonald Commission 111 5. The Battle of the Paradigms 144 6. (Mis-)Ushig Social Science Knowledge: The Research Program of the Macdonald Commission 166 7. The Rout Is On: The Influence of the Research Program 193 8. Ideological Homogeneity in the Research Program 213 9. Royal Commission Politics: The Triumph of the Policy Group 238 10. Leap of Faith: Ideology in the Chair 257 11. The Commissioners'Role and the Final Report 285 12. Continentalizing Canada: The Politics and Legacy of the Macdonald Commission 312 APPENDIX A: Written Briefs Examined for This Study 339 APPENDIX B: Categorization of Topics from Macdonald Commission Content Analysis 348 APPENDIX C: People Interviewed 351 APPENDIX D: Commissioner's Biographies 353 Notes 359 Select Bibliography 433 Index 465 The content of nationalism, as an ideology, can assume a variety of forms, from the extremes of 'integral nationalism' to mere patriotic pride.