Repoliticizing globalization in Canada: From the MAI to Seattle

This article examines the impact of globalization on Canadian sovereignty and democracy through a study of the re-emergence of a political debate over international trade and investment rules. Using case studies of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and the World Trade Organization's failed ministerial meeting in Seattle, it shows how, despite the claim that globalization limits sovereignty and democracy, a transnational opposition movement has developed, aided by new information technology. Given the history of Canada's national debate over continental economic integration the issue of globalization has great resonance, and Canadian non-governmental organizations have been a major part of the opposition to it. As a consequence, traditional executive-dominated Canadian trade policy-making, where government consults with a narrowly defined group of business and economic stakeholders, has come under attack, resulting in a greater role for parliamentary committees and non-govemmental organizations in the process.