View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Denver Denver Journal of International Law & Policy Volume 27 Number 1 Fall Article 5 May 2020 Why NAFTA Violates the Canadian Constitution Avi Gesser Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/djilp Recommended Citation Avi Gesser, Why NAFTA Violates the Canadian Constitution, 27 Denv. J. Int'l L. & Pol'y 121 (1998). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Journal of International Law & Policy by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact
[email protected],
[email protected]. WHY NAFTA VIOLATES THE CANADIAN CONSTITUTION AvI GESSER* I. INTRODUCTION With the proliferation of international economic treaties over the last decade, many of the traditional hallmarks of state sovereignty con- tinue to erode. Each new round of negotiations on transnational eco- nomic integration, such as those surrounding the Multilateral Agree- ment on Investment' and the creation of the World Trade Organization ("WTO"),2 challenges the very constitutional structures of the negotiat- ing parties. As the states of the European Union have learned, many of the benefits of cross-border economic integration cannot be realized without relinquishing some of the old characteristics of independent statehood. In many instances, the new economic order requires signifi- cant reinterpretation of (or outright judicial amendment to) national constitutions. 3 This same dilemma now faces the countries of North America: what conflicts exist between their international trade obliga- tions created by treaty and their national constitutions and how will these incongruities be resolved? In December 1992, the governments of Canada, the United States, L.L.M.