A brief statement by Energy Minister Sonya Savage yesterday says Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government intends to use a legacy provision of the now-kaput North American Free Trade Agreement to recover the government’s “investment” in the cancelled Keystone XL Pipeline project. The minister’s statement – heavy with nearly incomprehensible business-bureaucratic
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somecanuckchick dot com: YOU. BOUGHT. A. PIPELINE. — THREAD ALERT!
THREAD ALERT! Anyone remember FIPA? The Canada-China trade agreement that Stephen Harper signed w/o ever tabling it in Parliament? #cdnpoli #elxn43 1/10 FIPA has given China UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS to Canada’s natural resources, specifically the #tarsands. PetroChina, for instance, bought a 60% interest in two undeveloped tarsands projects. #cdnpoli #elxn43 2/10
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A Bill to Squeeze British Columbia Till Its Pips Squeak introduced in Alberta Legislature – but can it pass constitutional muster?
Is it just me, or is almost everyone from Alberta quoted in the media sounding a little overwrought these days? Yesterday, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Energy Minister Margaret McQuaig-Boyd rolled out Bill 12, rather tendentiously dubbed the Preserving Canada’s Economic Prosperity Act, the sole purpose of which seems to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney find common ground, sort of … on dubious pipeline posturing
PHOTOS: Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Trans Mountain Pipeline. (Photo: Handout from Kinder Morgan Canada.) Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney, U of A economist Andrew Leach, and British Columbia Premier John Horgan. I guess we can understand why Jason Kenney acts like Alberta has all the powers of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Thanks to Donald Trump, the post-war American imperium that’s run like a Swiss watch is coming unsprung!
PHOTOS: U.S. President Donald Trump’s inaugural parade makes its way through Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017, just before the stuff hit the fan and everything went to hell in a handbasket. (Photo: United States Navy.) Below: President Trump, former president Barack Obama, the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau,
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Why I hope CETA fails
Michael Geist in today’s Globe & Mail gives cogent reasons why the EU-Canada trade deal is bad for Canada, and for our democracy. This bad trade deal has not been discussed in detail by Canadians; was born in secrecy, negotiated in secrecy; diminishes our democratic rights; and is being pushed
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Trade Agreements Should Prioritize People, Not Corporations
David Korten argues that the current wave of opposition to profit-oriented trade agreements will force future deals to prioritize people, not transnational corporations.
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The Canadian Progressive: CETA investment reforms won’t prevent corporate attacks on health and environment
The European Commission’s new investment protection proposals for future trade agreements, which were recently incorporated into the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), won’t prevent dangerous corporate attacks on public he…
Continue readingThe Trans-Pacific Partnership—never heard of it ???!!!
The above headline is plagiarized directly from a CBC article. I added the punctuation gratuitously to convey my horror that a proposed “trade” agreement that could have major effects on Canadian lives is largely unknown to those same Canadians. The agreement is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and it involves 12
Continue readingGermany stands up for democracy
Finally, someone has said enough to the erosion of democracy brought about by “trade” agreements. From NAFTA to the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union, these agreements have eroded the power of governments in favour of investors. International agreements are, in themselves, a
Continue readingCorporations suing countries—how crazy is that?
Lone Pine Resources sues Canada because Quebec has imposed a moratorium on fracking. Philip Morris sues the Australian government over its tobacco plain packaging legislation. Swedish energy company Vattenfall sues Germany because of that country’s decision to phase out nuclear energy. Fracking is a method of exploiting oil and gas
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Capital courts: how corporations can hold governments to ransom | Red Pepper
Capital courts: how corporations can hold governments to ransom Transnational corporations have won shocking powers to sue sovereign states, writes John Hilary, and they are not shy of using them February 2014 via Capital courts: how corporations can hold governments to ransom | Red Pepper. Filed under: Capitalism Tagged: Capitalism, corporate
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