Elizabeth wants to hear from you – investor-state treaties

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Are these cases taken to court?

No.  They go to an arbitration.  Three international lawyers hear the case, usually in a hotel room. There are no appeals.  There is no access to a Canadian court before being thrust into arbitration. While “international arbitration” may sound fair and neutral, the reality is different.  A recent report, “Profiting from Injustice: How law firms, ...

What happened under Chapter 11 of NAFTA??

Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was the first investor-state agreement in the world. There is much to learn from analysis of this new type of agreement, but insufficient analysis has been completed of the arbitrations under Chapter 11 of NAFTA. Far from being of benefit to governments and their citizens, ...

Why is the Canada-China Investment Treaty worse than NAFTA Chapter 11?

NAFTA can be exited with six months written notice; the investment treaty with China is in force for 15 years, then Canada or China could give a one year written notice to exit, but all existing investments would be grandfathered for a further 15 years (31 year “lock-in”); Even though it is egregious that US ...

Is an Investor-State Agreement necessary to pursue trade?

No. Even though Australia does not have an investor-state treaty with China, they lead the globe in Chinese investment. In 2012, investment from China to Australia stood at $51 billion (US), eclipsing the United States ($50.7 billion) and far surpassing Canada ($36.7 billion). *Source: KPMG – Demystifying Chinese Investment, August 2012 Print this page...

What is an Investor-State Agreement?

While investor-state agreements are sometimes associated – or even confused – with free trade agreements, they are not the same. A trade agreement opens up areas, or sectors, of national economies to allow other countries access. An investor-state agreement is different. For example, the Canada-China Investment Treaty does not open any new sectors to trade. ...

Opposition Motion – 2013 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Elizabeth May : Mr. Speaker, I direct this question to the hon. member for Nickel Belt. My father was an accountant and I vividly recall, because I was about eight years old, that he was the senior cashier for a large insurance company. During year-end, they could not find $1 million. He came home from ...

Opposition Motion – 2013 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, audits, of course, are looking for the paperwork to match against the money that is spent. Certainly I can recall a recent audit in which the comment was, as in this case, “There is no evidence of wrongdoing, but we cannot find the paperwork and we cannot figure out exactly where ...

Opposition Motion – 2013 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, clearly there has been a significant problem tracking dollars. The Auditor General has identified it. We have yet to hear any response from the Conservatives and their administration as to how this money could have been so poorly tracked. We know from the Auditor General that it was not spent on ...

Petitions – Shark Finning

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, the second petition is on the subject of shark finning, and calls for the government to regulate the trade, distribution and offer for sale of shark fins. More than 90 million sharks a year are killed simply to take their fins for a specific delicacy. The petitioners, in this case from ...