Should Canada establish constitutionally entrenched Special Administra

[Second-class Canadian]

Should Canada establish constitutionally entrenched Special Administrative Regions (SARs) similar in concept to Hong Kong SAR, that would essentially be guaranteed free-trade regions?

Some SARs that I envision could include Montreal Island SAR, Vancouver Island SAR, and Nova Scotia Island SAR. This would help to protect (at least to a degree) Canadian businesses from the whims of protectionist governments from election to election. Your thoughts on this?

[Second-class Canadian]

Baffin Island SAR would be another one worth considering.

[TimG]

Should Canada establish constitutionally entrenched Special Administrative Regions (SARs) similar in concept to Hong Kong SAR, that would essentially be guaranteed free-trade regions?

The only reasons SARs exist is because of countries with closed economies and a government that is afraid of opening it up. Canada is already an open economy and has no need of such things.

[Second-class Canadian]

The only reasons SARs exist is because of countries with closed economies and a government that is afraid of opening it up. Canada is already an open economy and has no need of such things.

Hong Kong's economic policy is still more

open than Canada's... and that's with a majority Conservative Government in power.

[TimG]

Hong Kong's economic policy is still more

open than Canada's... and that's with a majority Conservative Government in power.

So? Hong Kong has been an independently administered autonomous region with its own laws for a century or more. It should be an independent city state like Singapore but Beijing was too keen on annexing the territory instead of letting people there decide. That said, the way forward for further trade liberalization in Canada is via trade deals like the EU and TPP that include the entire country. There is no need to create special zones because the country is generally open to trade. Edited July 3, 2015 by TimG

[Second-class Canadian]

It would be just as easy for the Canadian Government to withdraw from such agreements as it is for the government to sign them. A majority NDP government could undo decades of progress on the free trade front within one mandate.

[TimG]

It would be just as easy for the Canadian Government to withdraw from such agreements as it is for the government to sign them. A majority NDP government could undo decades of progress on the free trade front within one mandate.

Which is as it should be. Our current system forces any potential government to cater to the center because that is where the votes are so it is unlikely that any radical policy change would come as a surprise. If it was front and center in a campaign and Canadians were crazy enough to vote for such a policy then Canadians should get it.

[Argus]

Should Canada establish constitutionally entrenched Special Administrative Regions (SARs) similar in concept to Hong Kong SAR, that would essentially be guaranteed free-trade regions?

Some SARs that I envision could include Montreal Island SAR, Vancouver Island SAR, and Nova Scotia Island SAR. This would help to protect (at least to a degree) Canadian businesses from the whims of protectionist governments from election to election. Your thoughts on this?

How many different ways are you going to come up with to get your girlfriend permission to live here?

[August1991]

Should Canada establish constitutionally entrenched Special Administrative Regions (SARs) similar in concept to Hong Kong SAR, that would essentially be guaranteed free-trade regions?

I think the provincial governments have the power to create such regions (?) already.

------

But let's be honest here. The Hong Kong SAR (even the term) is the result of a fudge. For the PRC, Hong Kong is what we Canadians would call a "distinct society".

Edited July 4, 2015 by August1991

[Second-class Canadian]

How many different ways are you going to come up with to get your girlfriend permission to live here?

You're confusing threads.

First off, I've dropped that other conversation, resigned to the fact that we will just have to live apart until marriage. To some extent that was a ranting thread. I don't know why you're bringing it up in a free trade thread.

Secondly, I don't see how trade policy relates to immigration policy. A state can be pro-trade yet anti-immigration, or it can be protectionist yet pro-immigration. I just happen to be very pro-free-trade and have been for years before we'd met, and seeing the NDP up in the polls, I'm therefore thinking of how free trade can be better secured in a free-market economy? Do you have a problem with ensuring an open market?

[Argus]

You're confusing threads.

First off, I've dropped that other conversation, resigned to the fact that we will just have to live apart until marriage. To some extent that was a ranting thread. I don't know why you're bringing it up in a free trade thread.

Secondly, I don't see how trade policy relates to immigration policy. A state can be pro-trade yet anti-immigration, or it can be protectionist yet pro-immigration. I just happen to be very pro-free-trade and have been for years before we'd met, and seeing the NDP up in the polls, I'm therefore thinking of how free trade can be better secured in a free-market economy? Do you have a problem with ensuring an open market?

So this special free trade zone of yours wouldn't allow foreigners to come and set up shop there without worrying about whether they can speak English or were married to a Canadian, would it... by coincidence?

[Second-class Canadian]

So this special free trade zone of yours wouldn't allow foreigners to come and set up shop there without worrying about whether they can speak English or were married to a Canadian, would it... by coincidence?

You're confusing open trade with open labour. Though not mutually incompatible, they are still unrelated.