{"id":160082,"date":"2023-06-11T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediaintel.asia\/?p=919681"},"modified":"2023-06-11T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T00:00:00","slug":"left-leaning-mexico-seeks-closer-canada-ties-in-labour-and-business-amid-mining-spat-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/2023\/06\/11\/left-leaning-mexico-seeks-closer-canada-ties-in-labour-and-business-amid-mining-spat-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Left-leaning Mexico seeks closer Canada ties in labour and business amid mining spat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MediaIntel.Asia\"<\/a><\/div>\n

OTTAWA - The Trudeau government is taking a mixed approach to Mexico charting its own path to economic growth, as a desire for more trade and better labour rights bumps up against mining reform and agriculture regulations that have riled Canadian firms.
\nAhead of a visit this week of senior Mexican officials, Labour Minister Seamus O\u2019Regan was in Mexico this month taking stock of the country\u2019s growing movement to unionize, which has been undergoing major reforms with some Canadian help.
\n\u201cWhat the Mexican government is doing is incredible,\u201d O\u2019Regan said in a recent interview. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine a society moving faster than they are.\u201d
\nThe changes stem from the replacement for NAFTA, officially known as the Canada United States Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA, which was signed during the Trump administration in 2018.
\nCUSMA calls for Mexico to improve the rights of labour unions and collective bargaining, in part to counteract pressure to keep U.S. salaries low to compete with America\u2019s southern neighbour.
\nThose provisions have been enthusiastically taken up by the administration of Mexico\u2019s populist centre-left president, Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador, often known as AMLO. The country has inked thousands of new agreements governed by scores of brand-new labour tribunals.
\nThe Mexican government said it\u2019s revised or signed 20,000 contracts, with 15,000 more under consultation. The changes have boosted compensation by an average of 20 per cent, the government said.
\n\u201cThey have ripped up just about every collective bargaining agreement in Mexico, because they were all employer-heavy and some of them were absolutely corrupt. And they are now encouraging new unions,\u201d O\u2019Regan said.
\nThe Canadian Labour Congress and unions such as Unifor and the United Steelworkers have been helping their Mexican counterparts negotiate language in these agreements, and advised Mexico on its new labour tribunals. Charities like World Vision have also helped monitor the country\u2019s efforts to eradicate forced labour from Mexico\u2019s supply chains.
\nO\u2019Regan\u2019s department has also stationed two envoys in the country to monitor progress on the reforms, which he said is the first time Canadian labour attach\u00e9s have been posted abroad.
\nMexico is Canada\u2019s third-largest trading partner after the U.S. and China, representing nearly $50 billion in two-way trade last year. O\u2019Regan said the relationship isn\u2019t just about trade, but shared values around adequate labour standards, which the Liberals have made a focus in trade-deal negotiations.
\n\u201cAll levels of government are under incredible stress and strain; expectations are high,\u201d he said of Mexico. \u201cThey have a long way to go but they\u2019re making tremendous progress.\u201d
\nThe Business Council of Canada is hoping for similar collaboration between big business in both countries. Along with its Mexican equivalent, the council has been asking the governments of both countries to craft a strategy to boost competitiveness of the manufacturing sectors, ramp up investments in priority sectors and have provinces work more with Mexican states.
\nThose items will likely be raised this week when senior officials from both countries will meet to take stock of trade, investment and skilled labour, under what\u2019s officially called a high-level economic dialogue.
\nBut those talks could face some headwinds as AMLO\u2019s government reforms the mining sector.
\nMexico is the world\u2019s top provider of silver, which is a key metal for electric vehicles and solar power. Like many Latin American countries, it is trying to improve the benefits to communities by providing these metals to companies based in countries that are trying to become less reliant on China.
\nIn late May, Trade Minister Mary Ng noted in a press release that Canada has \u201ccontinued concerns\u201d with the mining reform, which would boost corporate requirements for local compensation and transparency while aiming to limit speculation in the sector.
\nCanada is a global hub for mining companies, many of which focus on exploring for minerals and buying the rights to an extraction area, known as a concession, which can be held and eventually sold to another company. The reform lowers the maximum length of time for these concessions, and allows some to be cancelled if no mining is undertaken within two years.
\nCanadian companies have warned that the reforms might violate CUSMA as well as a Pacific Rim trade deal that counts both countries as members. Tamino Minerals pulled out of Mexico in April citing \u201cpolitical instability,\u201d and others have threatened to follow suit, particularly after Mexico nationalized lithium reserves last year.
\nIn a statement, the Mexican Embassy in Canada said changes in the mining sector seek to \u201creduce the impact on the environment, ensure the conservation of water for human consumption, and to protect local and Indigenous communities \u2014 issues that are part of the shared priorities between Mexico and Canada.\u201d
\nThe embassy also praised \u201ccrucial\u201d efforts by big business to seek closer ties between the two countries.
\n\u201cTraditionally the dialogue among businesses has taken place in the trilateral context. However, to harness the full potential of both countries\u2019 engagement, we need a direct dialogue that takes into account the benefits of a stronger partnership,\u201d the embassy wrote in a statement.
\nThe embassy said that can help with supply chains and innovation, but also sustainability and economic growth for under-represented groups such as women and Indigenous Peoples.
\nLast Friday, Canada joined an American challenge under CUSMA of Mexican laws that ban the use of genetically-modified corn in tortillas and dough, a change the Canada Grains Council argues is not grounded in science.
\nMexico has also been calling on Ottawa to resist a call by Washington this spring to consider reinstating a visa requirement for visiting Mexican citizens, which ended in 2016. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas suggested to media that requiring visas may help stem illegal migration.
\nThis report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2023.
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