"Free trade has been a highly contentious issue since the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney negotiated the first free trade agreement with the United States in the 1980s. Tracing the roots of Canada's contemporary involvement in North American free trade back to the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada in 1985 - also known as the Macdonald Commission - Gregory J. Inwood offers a critical examination of the work of the commission and its immediate and long-term effects on Canada's political and economic landscape." "Using original research - including content analysis, interviews, archival information, and surveys of relevant literature - Inwood argues that the Macdonald Commission created an atmosphere and political discourse that made the continentalization of Canada possible by way of free trade agreements with the United States and Mexico." "A thorough examination of the politics and legacy of the Macdonald Commission, Continentalizing Canada will be of interest to scholars and practitioners in the areas of Canadian politics, public policy, and economics."--Jacket