From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Reciprocity (Canadian politics)
Reciprocity (Canadian politics)
1896, it was the Americans who proposed it to Wilfrid
Laurier’s Liberals. The idea excited them, and they im-
mediately began to campaign for it. The Conservatives
feared that they would lose the election again due to the
valuable agreement, and despite their general belief that
it would do Canada good, began to campaign against it.
The Liberal Party went on to win the 1896 election,
and some years later it negotiated an elaborate reciproc-
ity agreement with the United States in 1911. However
in the 1911 election reciprocity again became a major is-
sue, with the Conservatives saying that it would be a "sell
out" to the United States. The Liberals were defeated by
the Conservative party whose slogan was "No truck or
A 1911 political poster suggests the imbalance of benefits from
reciprocity between the United States and Canada trade with the Yankees".
In nineteenth and early twentieth century Canadian Free trade in the 1980s
politics, the term reciprocity was used to describe the
The concept of reciprocity with the United States was
concept of free trade with the United States of America.
revived in the 1985 when the Royal Commission on the
Reciprocity and free trade have been emotional issues in
Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada
Canadian history, as they pitted two conflicting impuls-
headed by former Liberal Minister of Finance Donald S.
es, the desire for beneficial economic ties with the Unit-
Macdonald issued a report calling for free trade with the
ed States against the fear that closer economic ties would
US. The Progressive Conservative government of Brian
lead to American domination and annexation.
Mulroney acted on the recommendation by negotiating
the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and successfully
1880s to 1910s fighting the 1988 election on the issue.
After Confederation, reciprocity was initially promoted
as an alternative to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald’s See also
National Policy. Reciprocity meant that there would be
• Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty of 1855.
no protective tariffs on all natural resources being im-
• National Policy
ported and exported between Canada and the United
• Continentalism
States. This would allow prairie grain farmers access to
the larger American market, and allow them to make
more money on their exports. In the 1890s, it also meant References
that Western Canadian farmers could obtain access to
cheaper American farm machinery and manufactured
goods, which otherwise had to be obtained at higher External links
prices from central Canada. • National Policy and Canadian Federalism
In the 1891 election, the Liberal Party of Canada ran
and was defeated over its reciprocity platform. Macdon-
ald won with his nationalist slogan, "The Old Flag, The
Old Policy, The Old Leader." The Liberals temporarily
shelved the concept. When reciprocity came up again in
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reciprocity_(Canadian_politics)&oldid=458834382"
Categories:
• Canada–United States relations
• Economic history of Canada
• International trade
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Reciprocity (Canadian politics)
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