Chapter activist Alice de Wolff.
The Council of Canadians Comox Valley chapter has submitted its comments on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade.
Chapter activist Alice de Wolff writes, “The Canadian government has not made a credible economic argument for the TPP. An optimistic World Bank study puts the gains for Canada at maybe 1% of GDP by 2030. A recent Tuft’s University study critiques the assumptions and conclusions of previous studies and suggests that Canada would lose 58,000 jobs, and that our GDP might increase by .28%. This estimate echoes that of the CD Howe Institute, which suggests that GDP might increase from .2% to .8% between 2018 and 2035. These estimates are remarkably small. If they are accurate (and they echo many Canadians’ assessment of previous trade agreements), then it is unclear why our government is heading down this path.”
She adds, “The Comox Valley has a mixed economy, with a population of over 60,500. Its largest stable contributors are family capital (retirement savings), education and the air force base, with smaller contributions from tourism, health care and agriculture. …The monetary and environmental costs of transportation to and from the Island point to local production of goods and services as one logical area of economic growth. We are concerned, however, that the TPP will strengthen global supply chains that create impediments to Vancouver Island-based production of the food, services and goods we need, and consequently that it will decrease local economic opportunity and jobs.”
In her comments, de Wolff also notes, “The Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provision is the most concerning component of the TPP and other corporate investment treaties. It is inexplicable that our government proposes to agree to a system where foreign corporations can sue us, as a TPP participant, for any decision that impairs a corporation’s expectation of profit on their investment. It is equally unacceptable that any dispute that arises will not be handled by our strong and stable courts, but by appointed tribunals that operate with no connection to Canadian court system.”
She then highlights, “We fully support the federal government’s statements that it intends to reconcile its relationship with the country’s aboriginal peoples. However, we have seen very little recognition from federal or provincial governments that the TPP and similar treaties could have a profound effect on first nations. Nor has there been serious discussion of whether the federal government has the capacity to negotiate such agreements on their behalf.”
And after key points on employment, food security, food safety and drug costs, de Wolff notes, “The environment protection sections of the TPP appear to be largely statements of intent, with few enforcement or legal requirements. It does not prevent corporations from using ISDS mechanism to challenge environmental protections. Comox Valley communities are currently grappling with how to pay for costly damage that the forestry industry has caused to our watershed and drinking water. The TPP’s projected increase in the export of raw logs could compound that problem in our community and in others.”
The St. John’s chapter has also submitted a brief and presented to the committee, while the Saint John, Prince Edward Island, North Shore, and the Northwest Territories chapters have also presented to the committee.
On October 28, the Standing Committee posted on its website that, “The House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade has decided to allow individuals and groups to submit briefs in the context of the Committee’s public consultation on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement beyond the October 31 deadline and until January 27, 2017 at 23:59 EDT. Briefs exceeding 10 pages must be accompanied by a summary of no more than 1,500 words. The Committee may decide to translate, distribute and/or publish only the summary.”
To submit your brief on the TPP to the Standing Committee, please e-mail them at ciit-tpp-ptp@parl.gc.ca.
