Reflections, Observations, and Analyses Pertaining to the Canadian Political Scene
Thursday, August 28, 2014
This Just In
According to a CBC report,
EU lawmakers are threatening to block a multi-billion dollar trade pact between Canada and the European Union — a blueprint for a much bigger EU-U.S. deal — because it would allow firms to sue governments if they breach the treaty.
The agreement with Canada, a draft of which was seen by Reuters, could increase bilateral trade by one fifth to $37 billion (26 billion euros).
But European consumer and environmental groups say a mechanism in the accord would allow multinationals to bully the EU's 28 governments into doing their bidding regardless of environmental, labour and food laws and would set a bad precedent for the planned EU-U.S. trade pact.
Although the neoliberals leading our government don't care about a loss of sovereignty rights, other do:
Tiziana Beghin, an EU lawmaker from Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement who sits on the parliament's influential trade committee, called the EU-Canada deal an "affront to democracy".
"Giving corporations the right to sue governments for loss of anticipated profit would be ridiculous if it were not so dangerous," she told Reuters.
Let's hope that a European revolt leads to a restoration of sanity in trade pacts. Corporate greed has been setting the agenda for far too long.
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"An affront to democracy." It's nice to know that some people get it.
ReplyDeleteSuch words will never escape the lips of Harper Inc., Owen.
DeleteLorne, EU and Canada deal is a bit confusing. However, it is good that public of EU countries are protesting against it. Canadians hardly know about these deals. King Harper is making sure that Canadian public knows as little as possible.
ReplyDeleteDepriving the public of needed information is one of the things this regime will be remembered for, LD, long after it fades from the scene.
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