Category Archives: Reflections

I’m happy to say that the Canada-Japan Trade Policy Course has come to a  conclusion.  I would like to thank all the MAAPPS students who fought to make this course happen.  Our efforts are a direct result of the quality of the program and the substantial knowledge we have obtained.  Thank you so much, Andrew, Astha, Benjamin, Itay, Jean-Francois, Julia, Nik, Tye, and Yongmin.

Although the praise for the success of this cross cultural academic experience goes to all members, we would be remiss to not single out Benjamin for his drive to make this program financially viable and especially Itay, who managed this ship from every detail from Vancouver to Japan. Everything we accomplished was due to the heart and soul that these individuals put into this.

I would also like to thank our partner institution, Hitotsubashi University, whose students and faculty reciprocated our dedication and desire to make this a successful achievement. Lastly, to the staff, faculty members, and director of IAR who supported us and guided us, Thank you so much.

The title of this post although simple is poignant. It comes from the person who we owe the most to, who put up with our pestering for months and never wavered in his support, Dr. Julian Dierkes.  This title has multiple meanings to our group of individuals but for me it defines the single-most rewarding academic experience of my life.

Let me know when it is time to negotiate with the Russians, I think we are ready….

Please look forward to future blog posts and comments from participants as we look forward to filling in the gaps of our posts and highlighting the areas of the EPA we made.

Last week, on one of the few scheduled free days, I had a chance to visit Fukushima and to volunteer in a terrific relief effort. See my Jukupedia blog for a brief note on my experience.

On June 13, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency lifted all import restrictions on foods from Japan that had been imposed in March following the nuclear accident at Fukushima No. 1 plant.

This has been the single piece of information that every government official we’ve met with over the past two weeks has mentioned, whether it was at the national level or at the regional level. Canada was the first country to do so, and this was clearly noted in government circles.

Another lesson we learned through our various consultations is that the Canada-Japan EPA exists in a competitive field of FTA/EPAs vying for attention. Given this competition, I would go as far as claiming that if a Canada-Japan EPA does get concluded eventually, it will have been in part because of the very smart and symbolically powerful decision to lift import restrictions that was made in the government of Canada.