French Canada is looking to Europe for new economic possibilities. This summer, Quebec Premier Jean Charest sat down with French President Nicholas Sarkozy to discuss the possibility of creating a labor-mobility agreement.
The objective is to make it easy for people from Quebec to live and work in France and vice versa.
Charest is reinvigorating the special diplomatic ties that have existed between France and Quebec since the early 1960s when Quebec established a diplomatic relationship with France, independent of Canada. It entailed France and Quebec regularly exchanging ministers and government officials, and negotiating exchange agreements in the areas of education, culture, technical cooperation and youth exchange. If these present negotiations are successful, Quebec would become the first Canadian province to sign a labor-mobility agreement with a foreign country.
The idea is not new or exclusively Charest’s. It was a favorite project of former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and is also being worked on by the current PM, Stephen Harper. Perhaps, now, the timing is just right. Quebec currently faces a labor shortage and has the lowest unemployment rate it has seen in 30 years. Charest is convinced that labor mobility and an open-door policy to encourage the free flow of workers and goods is the key to creating future economic prosperity.
Although Sarkozy has expressed openness to the idea, only time will tell if Charest succeeds in officially securing Quebec a place within European trade. Last year, Quebec-based company Bombardier won a contract worth more than $2.32 billion US to supply France’s SNCF with 172 modernized commuter trains. In doing so, it beat out French rival Alstom SA and prompted French politicians, including Sarkozy, to complain about foreign firms stealing work from the French. Sounds like Charest has his work cut out for him. Time will tell, if through his efforts, Quebec and France can come to a mutually beneficial agreement.
This article was published Friday, September 21, 2007.
