ACTION ALERT: Re-negotiate NAFTA now!
Governments and big business have spent the last 15 years telling us that free trade is good for us. But Canadians know better. The Council of Canadians has found that 61% of Canadians agree that NAFTA should be renegotiated to include enforceable labour and environmental standards.
Why?
Chapter 11
The investor-state provisions in the NAFTA act both preventively as well as punitively in undermining strong environmental and labour standards. These provisions allow corporations to sue member governments for compensation in secretive NAFTA trade tribunals, not state courts, over almost any state measure that impacts predicted profits. As reported in the CBC, at least 42 cases have been filed since chapter 11 came into effect, more than half of the complaints lodged so far have arisen because of environmental laws. Chapter 11 can also be used by corporations to challenge measures that help workers. For example, ExxonMobil announced it would sue Canada over requirements for research and development and local employment in the Newfoundland offshore oil industry
NAFTA and bulk water exports
Water is included in Chapter 3 of NAFTA as a tradable good, subject to all the disciplines of an international treaty. Hence, once a foreign corporation invests in water, its interests are protected by the trade agreement. While voluntary provincial bans and public pressure have prevented corporations from exporting water so far, there is growing pressure on the provinces to lift these bans. Both Newfoundland and Ontario have attempted to export water but backed away due to intense public pressure. More recently, Quebec’s Charest government expressed an openness to the idea of bulk water exports as a source of revenue for the province. Under the “national treatment” provision of chapter 11, once one province allows the commercial export of water, other provinces will be forced to provide the same treatment to corporations seeking to export water.
Energy provisions
NAFTA signed away significant control of our energy resources to the market and big oil companies. Obligations under NAFTA prevent us from ever cutting back the proportion of energy we produce and sell to the U.S., even to meet Canadians’ needs or conserve energy resources. NAFTA limits the ability of the Canadian government to impose import or export restrictions, or to intervene in energy trade except in extraordinary circumstances. Furthermore, the Canadian government cannot treat foreign owners less favorably than it does domestic investors and cannot implement a two-price system for domestic use and for exports. NAFTA has contributed to a disconnection of production of energy to consumption of energy in our country, Canada produces about 40 per cent more oil than it consumes, but relies heavily on imported oil from offshore. Canada exports close to 70 per cent of the oil and 60 per cent of the natural gas we produce each year to the U.S. This is at the expense of ensuring Canadian’s energy security for basic energy needs and results in energy production greenhouse gas emissions being largely divorced from potential conservation and efficiency focused measures in Canadian energy use.
TAKE ACTION
Send an email to our prime minister telling him that it’s time to re-negotiate NAFTA.
SEND YOUR LETTER NOW:
