The roles of provinces and devolved administrations in the negotiation and implementation of a Canada-UK trade agreement

Following the vote on Brexit in 2016, the British Prime Minister Theresa May stated that its government hoped to reach a new trade agreement with Canada rapidly, to be modeled after the Canada-EU "Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement" (CETA) of which the UK will be excluded once it leaves the European Union. This agreement, interestingly, was the first Canadian free trade deal for which Canadian provinces were directly involved at every stage of the negotiations. In addition to trade talks have been initiated in good part by Quebec's Premier Jean Charest, provinces were deeply engaged, from the onset, in formulating the Canadian negotiating mandate itself. By contrast, it remains unclear what role the UK's devolved governments and parliaments (Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales) may have in negotiating, influencing or implementing such a future trade deal with Canada. Whilst there were mechanisms for the involvement of devolved nations in making European policy, the UK constitution has no clear principles or doctrine as to the roles that devolved nations should play in making trade policy. Moreover, the asymmetric nature of UK devolution complicates the involvement of the devolved governments and parliaments in trade negotiations.

Since the UK and Canada do not function under the same constitutional principles, a comparative analysis of the roles subnational governments have played and could play in such trade negotiations is in order. It will offer important insights about the advantages, practicalities and conflicts that can emerge from the multi-level governance of trade policy, and about its implications for devolved responsibilities indirectly linked to trade (e.g. agriculture subsidies). It will also provide insights as to how a bilateral Canada-UK trade negotiation could produce new and innovative approaches with regards to the involvement of substate actors. The goals of this knowledge synthesis, accordingly, will be twofold: first, to allow for a better understanding of the differences between the two models, of their theoretical and practical justifications, of their strengths and weaknesses, and of the ways in which they could be reconciled in the wake of bilateral negotiations; and second, to draw lessons as to how the participation of provinces and devolved regions in future trade negotiations between Canada and the UK might unfold, but perhaps most importantly as to how it could be improved and maximized, within the realm of possibility, in both cases.

Our knowledge synthesis on the potential roles of subnational governments in the negotiation and implementation of a future, post-Brexit Canada-UK trade deal will be elaborated in cooperation with many stakeholders and practitioners, and its results will be shared widely, both in academic and non-academic settings. The main research users of this synthesis will be trade negotiators, policymakers and senior officials from trade organization and Ministries, as well as academics and students of international relations and trade. Accordingly, we plan to engage with each type of user in various ways.

At the outset of the project first of all, and during the elaboration phase of the report, Drs. Paquin and Rioux will collaborate and meet with a least four high-ranking practitioners at the provincial and federal levels in Canada. Two representatives from Quebec's Ministère de l'économie, de la Science et de l'Innovation will be consulted and involved throughout the process: Mr. Jean-François Raymond, from the Trade Policy division, and Mr. Jean Séguin from the External Trade & Export Québec section. Executives from the Ontario Ministry of International Trade (Mr. Hugo Cameron) and from the intergovernmental team at Global Affairs Canada (Mr. Bruno Hamel) will also be closely involved and consulted, so that a complete, up-to-date and empirical synthesis of knowledge and practices on the Canadian case can be achieved.

Similarly, Drs. Roy, Wooton and Eiser intend to meet regularly with stakeholders in the Scottish government and parliament throughout the project, given that the aim is not only to disseminate the outputs of the research, but to enable them to help shape the areas that we focus upon. Key contacts from the Scottish Government who have agreed to participate include Kevin Quinlan, Director of International Trade & Investment, and Karen Watt, Director of External Affairs from the Scottish Government. In addition, representatives of the Scottish Parliament such as Iain McIver, Senior Researcher for Europe and International Affairs, and Jim Johnston, Clerk at the Finance and Constitution Committee, have agreed to collaborate.

A number of concrete research outputs are also considered during and after the elaboration of the knowledge synthesis report. An international conference on economic nationalism and (Canadian) trade policy, organized in Montreal by Drs. Paquin and Rioux for October 2018, will also be a good opportunity to present and discuss results before well-known experts from all over the world. Conferences on preliminary results and presenting the final report are also planned at the new Centre d'analyse politique - Constitution et fédéralisme (CAP-CF) in Montreal in November 2018, at the Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche et d'information sur les entreprises collectives (CIRIEC-Canada), and at the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, Ontario. In parallel of the December 2018 workshop in London, moreover, our team will organize another workshop in Scotland, bringing together researchers and stakeholders from England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well, so as to discuss findings and ways to maximize the report's impacts.

p-eds, research papers, book chapters and other peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Regional & Federal Studies, Publius and the Canadian Journal of Political Science will complete the effort of knowledge mobilization and diffusion, along with web postings of research results on the GÉRIQ and ÉNAP A+ websites. A series of blogs will also be published throughout the process via the Fraser of Allander Institute's website, which receives widespread pick-up in Scottish policy circles and media. To reach an even wider audience, short videos summarizing research findings will also be recorded and published on the Fraser of Allander Institute's website as well.