The federal government has confirmed that it intends to sign the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal at a meeting next week in New Zealand.
But that doesn't mean the Liberal government will ultimately ratify the 12-country treaty, International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday.
"Just as it is too soon to endorse the TPP, it is also too soon to close the door," Freeland wrote in an open letter posted on her department's website.
"Signing does not equal ratifying.... 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."
'We're very much not there yet' on TPP, says trade minister
Only a majority vote in the House of Commons would ensure Canada's ratification of the deal, she added.
Methinks that with a Liberal majority, that ratification is a foregone conclusion.
Safe bet Lorne A couple quotes from Freeland This in relation to trade deal with one of the most violent and legitimate governments in our hemisphere 'When it comes to the Honduras deal in particular, my hon. colleagues in the NDP have raised the important point that this is a trade deal with a country that has a very troubled record and very troubled reality on many political labour and environmental issues. We in the Liberal Party believe that it is important for us to do this deal. Not every country in the world is perfect, and we have to trade in the global economy'
ReplyDeleteThis on signing TPP 'Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, pressed on Ottawa’s strategy, said signing the treaty would keep the door open to becoming a full member.
“Not signing at this stage would have very significant consequences ... we would lose our status as one of the original TPP signatories and that would be giving up some significant privileges,”
The liberals believe in neoliberal corporate rights agreements every bit as much as the previous regime
I might add Trudeau praised Harper for and offered his support for CETA before even seeing the text saying 'We are broadly supportive of CETA, though we have yet to see its details, as this is only an agreement in principle. However, CETA stands to remove trade barriers, widely expand free trade between Canada and the European Union, and increase opportunity for the middle class.'
Thanks, Kev. Your comments serve to underscore that the new Liberal government are indeed neoliberals.
DeleteSources for those quotes https://www.liberal.ca/statement-liberal-party-canada-leader-justin-trudeau-ceta-2/
ReplyDeletehttps://openparliament.ca/debates/2014/1/29/chrystia-freeland-1/only/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/canada-taking-its-time-to-ratify-tpp-deal/article27790886/%3bjsessionid=mxr7WBMNqHK59RxKpywrGn25sWVzK1PrdrGGJhwhXQvTL9ZhQhzj!257651858/?ts=151228095153&ord=1
I agree and Freeland, a very intelligent woman surely knows that the investment protection clause threatens the very existence of our sovereignty. She must also know that the TPP is a tool for Global Neoliberals and they are the only ones who will benefit.Knowing all that as I'm sure she does, why would she even consider signing it? Destroying Canadian democratic rule Lorne, seems to be a breeze.
ReplyDeleteAs I stated in response to Kev's above comments, we are reminded by the signing that we have another neoliberal government in Ottawa with the same views on trade as the previous one.
DeleteIn fairness I suppose Canada is obliged to sign off on the text of the document if those are the negotiated terms. That said, Freeland does nothing to allay my suspicions of what's coming next. What about the US? Could we lock ourselves into a deal only to find the Americans rejecting it and what sort of a mess would that be?
ReplyDeleteGood question, Mound. I'm still hoping that the deal won't achieve the minimum number of ratifications required to come into being.
DeleteThe US is hoping some nations ratfy before them but the deal dies without them so no one willing to expend capital before they see what happens there
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