FTM-July2017-Issuu

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85% of canadian consumers who have seen the fairtrade mark trust it CANADIANS CHOOSE FAIRTRADE In a recent independent Globescan study more than 8 out of 10 Canadians who have seen the FAIRTRADE Mark feel it has a positive impact on their perceptions of labelled products. Consumers indicate that the FAIRTRADE Mark is increasingly associated with their personal values, and they are proud to be seen with the label. Are you part of the Fairtrade movement? 22 | FAIR TRADE MAGAZINE • CANADA’S VOICE FOR SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
essay If Free Trade then Fair Trade BY IAN HUDSON Notwithstanding President Trump’s populist criticism of free trade, it remains the policy of choice for most world power brokers, including Prime Minister Trudeau. Those who support free trade argue that it is fair for the countries involved, but a closer inspection reveals that free trade is, in both theory and practice, antithetical to what most people would consider to be a just system of trade. What’s fair about free trade? Free trade is primarily based on the idea that different nations are good at producing different things, so they should not try to produce everything they consume. If Canada can produce wheat efficiently but has more difficulty growing bananas, and Jamaica can produce bananas cheaply but has a bit more trouble with wheat, then Canada should produce wheat and sell it to Jamaica in exchange for its bananas. This is the famed theory of comparative advantage, which argues that trade is fair because it increases income and consumption in both countries. Second, some of the nations that have followed an export-oriented development strategy, like South Korea and more recently China, have famously enjoyed tremendous income gains. These countries appear to justify the idea that poor nations can become rich by following a policy of free trade and exporting to the world. Advocates use this evidence to argue that free trade is fair because it decreases global income inequality. A final fairness element in free trade is the avoidance of harm to others. When a nation restricts trade in order to protect its domestic industries and workers, it harms the countries that are the target of that restriction. One example of this is the lost jobs and income in the Canadian lumber industry that result every time the US protects its timber companies from Canadian exports in the repeating saga that is the softwood lumber dispute. So free trade policies are a way of avoiding “beggar thy neighbour” policies that harm other countries. Free trade’s fairness contradiction There are some real problems with claims that free trade represents a fair deal both between nations and for different groups within nations. The first category of problem, which exists because free trade enables companies to CFTN.CA | 23
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Page 5 and 6: Fresh. Beautiful. Ethical. Add Fair
Page 7 and 8: Why Fair Trade? The fair trade move
Page 9 and 10: on the ground Between January and M
Page 11 and 12: international fair trade community.
Page 13 and 14: growing change Regenerating Soils a
Page 15 and 16: through direct and fair trade. As p
Page 17 and 18: a Breakfast that Cares NuTerraCerea
Page 19 and 20: The term “fast fashion” might b
Page 21: ig clothing companies rely on netwo
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Page 27 and 28: Selkirk’s Whirlwind Campaign towa
Page 29 and 30: pitcher of sangria makes a fine com
Page 31: OUR SIGNATURE COLLECTION ETHICALLY

FTM-July2017-Issuu

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