Canada to sign TPP next week in New Zealand: minister

Canada will sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement at a meeting in Auckland, New Zealand on Feb. 4, International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday.

But that does not mean the Canadian government will approve the 12-country treaty, she wrote in a letter posted on the website of her department.

"For Parliament to full evaluate the merits of the TPP and for consultations to continue, Canada needs to stay at the table with the other TPP countries," Freeland said in open the letter to Canadians.

"That means when the 11 other countries convene to sign the Agreement next week, Canada will attend as well."

"Not attending", she said, "would mean withdrawing from the TPP altogether, even before Canadians have had an opportunity to fully debate its implications."

However, Freeland noted that "signing does not equal ratifying" and that "only a majority vote in our Parliament can allow the Agreement to take force."

"Signing is simply a technical step in the process, allowing the TPP text to be tabled in Parliament for consideration and debate before any final decision is made."

Last year, the previous Conservative government under former prime minister Stephen Harper announced an agreement-in-principle on Oct. 5, two weeks before the federal election, which the Liberals won and formed a majority government. Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Freeland trade minister last November.

On Monday, Freeland pointed out that countries have up to two years to consider ratifying the pact, which cannot be renegotiated.

But "just as it is too soon to endorse the TPP, it is also too soon to close the door," Freeland wrote in her open letter.

She said that over the last months of public consultations, she has received feedback from thousands of Canadians about the agreement, which involves such major Pacific-Rim nations as the United States and Japan.

"Many feel the TPP presents significant opportunities, while others have concerns," said Freeland. "Many Canadians still have not made up their minds and many more still have questions."