Common Law Students Present Results of Simulated Canada-Caribbean Trade Negotiation to DFAIT
During January term 2010, six Common Law students flew to Bridgetown, Barbados to work with students in the Masters in International Trade Policy program at the University of the West Indies on a simulated free trade agreement negotiation between Canada and the Caribbean countries which are members of CARICOM.In only three days, the negotiating teams made up of Andrew Christie, Emilia de Somma, Andrea Kroetch, Amélie Larocque, Meredith MacDonald, and John Zerucelli produced a 54-page text dealing with trade in goods and services, investment, labour standards, the environment, and development. Supporting the students in Barbados were Terry Collins-Williams, former Canadian trade negotiator; John Curtis, former Chief Economist at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Phil Rourke, Centre for Trade Policy and Law (CTPL), Executive Director; and Monique Moreau (’07), CTPL’s international legal counsel. William Dymond, CTPL’s Senior Executive Fellow, participated as an instructor in Ottawa.
Before the group left Barbados, they presented the results of their negotiation to the CARICOM negotiating team. On February 11, 2010, the group reassembled with their coaches and presented their work to a dozen officials at Foreign Affairs and International Trade, many of them directly involved in the actual negotiations. David Plunkett, the Chief Trade Negotiator (Bilateral and Regional), welcomed the students and complimented them on their negotiation skills. “My colleagues and I,” he stated, “will be going through your text looking for good ideas to go forward with.” The simulation was described by others as a “fascinating experiment.”
Copies of the draft text and a briefing note prepared by Andrea Kroetch are available on the CTPL website at www.ctpl.ca
The simulation was developed and organized by the CTPL. Financial support for the simulation was provided by CTPL, the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services at the University of the West Indies and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).