New Canada-Ecuador trade deal contradicts Prime Minister Carney’s human rights vision

In its current form, the bilateral pact negotiated by the Trudeau government would accelerate Canadian mining expansion in Ecuador while privileging investor protections over the rights of affected communities.

Indigenous leaders from Ecuador Fanny Kaekat, left, and Hortencia Zhagüi in Ottawa on Oct. 2, 2024. By securing corporate guarantees without equivalent safeguards for Indigenous Peoples’ consent and local governance, the treaty deepens an already volatile situation, writes Darcy Eygun. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY DARCY EYGUN

April 7, 2026

As Canada races to secure new trade partners amid mounting tensions with the United States, one proposed trade deal has emerged as a defining test of its new foreign policy: the highly problematic Canada-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement (FTA), negotiated by the Trudeau gove...

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