Bold presents parties with elected members in the House of Commons. The reciprocity movement began in earnest between 1846 and 1850. It has become an important theme in Canada West (present-day Ontario) and the maritime colonies, particularly New Brunswick. It was sparked by a dispute over the rights of American fishermen in the coastal waters of British North America (BNA). Both governments have been working to find a comprehensive settlement. U.S. President Ronald Reagan welcomed the Canadian initiative and the U.S. Congress gave the President the power to sign a free trade agreement with Canada, subject to congressional revision until October 5, 1987. In May 1986, Canadian and U.S. negotiators began developing a trade agreement. The Canadian team was led by former Deputy Finance Minister Simon Reisman and Peter O. Murphy, former U.S. Deputy Trade Representative in Geneva.
The difficulties faced by policy makers in Britain and North America at that time were twofold. First, they had to decide how to react to the rate changes, while the legislative power also belongs mainly to the metropolis. Second, they had to determine with certainty whether free trade was a bad thing or a good thing. British North America has been the world leader in square wood production: would it not benefit from a more open market? It was also easy to confuse the causes of economic problems: has the sale of basic foodstuffs decreased due to free trade or declining demand? To what extent were these factors related? In the 1840s and 1850s, political and financial leaders in the colonies did not have the statistical information to guide (or mislead) them. They knew that tariffs were being abolished and that everything had to be taken into account in this context. The treaty gave U.S. fishermen access to the N.B.A.`s Atlantic inshore fishery. It also allowed BNA fishermen to fish U.S. coastal waters north of 36 degrees N latitude. The treaty introduced free trade with a considerable number of natural resources. Trade between the United States and the colonies increased sharply after 1854.
However, factors other than the reciprocity agreement, such as the Canadian railway boom and the effects of the American Civil War (1861-1865), were largely responsible. This was obviously terrible news for a British North American economy that had worked well to work in the comfort zone of protectionism.
