Roundup: Free-ish trade deal with TPP

So, the TPP got signed, in case you missed the entirety of the news cycle yesterday. The Supply Management system was almost entirely left intact, and what tiny bit of market access that TPP countries gained will be more than compensated to the dairy farmers with very generous subsidies, and thus the Dairy Cartel was sated. Also, the auto parts content rules were kept largely intact as well, not that Unifor seems to care, as they’re going full-on protectionist and crying doom. Harper of course was touting the deal, while the Liberals sounded broadly supportive but wanted more details plus a full discussion in parliament when it comes to enabling legislation. The NDP, however, are still warning doom and taking the tactic of “Nobody trusts Stephen Harper” and latched onto Unifor’s claims that 20,000 jobs were imperilled. So there’s that. Economist Trevor Tombe takes us through why the deal is good for the country, while Andrew Coyne laments the timidity of maintaining the barriers we did.

https://twitter.com/stephaniecarvin/status/651093562784923648

On the campaign:

Good reads:

  • 92 percent of calls to the National Security Tip Line are “nonsensical” or unrelated. But we need a Barbaric Cultural Practices Tip Line to waste more resources.
  • Former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams is telling people that if they can’t vote for the Liberals or NDP then they should not vote at all.
  • The Federal Court of Appeal denied the government their stay on the niqab ban decision (judgment here).
  • The details on that convicted terrorist stripped of citizenship are apparently a breach of privacy, so don’t expect them from the government.
  • Bruce Hicks grades the parties performances vis-à-vis the Caretaker Convention through the election. For the Conservatives and NDP, it’s not pretty.
  • Stephen Gordon reminds us that the Liberal and NDP fiscal frameworks are essentially built on the Conservative baseline.
  • Susan Delacourt contrasts the spirit of suspicion and generosity that both Harper and Trudeau respectively offer in the election.

Odds and ends:

The latest Conservative ads attacking Justin Trudeau feature not stock photography but stock b-roll, from places like Italy and Pittsburgh.

Jason Kenney complimented a resettled refugee learning English without an accent, and immediately people freaked out.

https://twitter.com/cmathen/status/651142641229238272

https://twitter.com/cmathen/status/651142973674029056

https://twitter.com/cmathen/status/651143412180119553

https://twitter.com/cmathen/status/651145509764132864