Reciprocity (Canadian politics)

Reciprocity, in 19th- and early 20th-century Canadian politics, meant free trade, the removal of protective tariffs on all natural resources between Canada and the United States.

After Confederation, reciprocity was initially promoted as an alternative to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's National Policy.

Reciprocity meant that there would be no protective tariffs on all natural resources being imported and exported between Canada and the United States.

"[1] The concept of reciprocity with the United States was revived in the 1985 when the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada headed by former Liberal Minister of Finance Donald S. Macdonald issued a report, calling for free trade with the US.

[2] The Progressive Conservatives, under Brian Mulroney, acted on the recommendation by negotiating the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement.

A 1911 Conservative campaign poster warns that the big American pig will gobble up the benefits of reciprocity, proposed by the Liberals.