The Chronicle Herald reports, “The Nova Scotia fisheries industry stands to benefit from liberalized trade with Europe, the European Union ambassador to Canada (Matthias Brinkmann) said (in Halifax) Monday. …But the adoption of CETA could also result in between 510 and 2,587 job losses in Nova Scotia, mostly in the manufacturing sector, said a report released Tuesday by the Nova Scotia office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. …’We definitely have some concerns that the agreement, overall, will not be of benefit to Canadians or to Nova Scotia in particular,’ said Angela Giles, a report co-author and Atlantic regional officer for the Council of Canadians.”
“A leaked 2010 document revealed that the 27-member EU has made three demands that Canada alter its drug policy, including a provision to extend intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical companies to 10 years from eight. The patent term extension means access to generic drugs would be delayed by two years, which puts an unfair burden on Nova Scotians who depend on cheaper prescription drugs, Giles said. ‘CETA threatens Nova Scotia’s ability to enact fair drug-pricing policy because the proposed changes to Canada’s drug patent system would add about $70 million annually to Nova Scotia’s prescription drug costs.'”
The Chronicle Herald article is at http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/152511-eu-envoy-trade-deal-would-aid-fisheries. The report co-authored by Giles is available at http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/ceta-and-nova-scotia.
