Yesterday’s media conference. Photo by David P. Ball/ The Tyee.ca.
The Tyee reports, “Unions, citizen groups, and environmentalists have joined a growing chorus alarmed about a secretive investment deal with China, voicing their support yesterday for a First Nation’s lawsuit seeking to halt the agreement. The groups said they are concerned about the lack of public consultation and aboriginal consent, and provisions allowing companies to sue governments over legislation, contained within the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA).”
Harjap Grewal, the Pacific Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians, says, “All of these agreements are leading to a further entrenchment of the colonial relationship that Canada has with Indigenous communities. This may be one of the most important moments for the Council of Canadians — to be actually standing behind and with Indigenous communities that are taking leadership in raising issues of the relationship the Canadian government has to communities, both in terms of treaty obligations and unceded territories in B.C.”
The article notes, “Grewal added that the FIPAs’ investor-state dispute processes and 31-year lock-in period will basically make it ‘harder for communities to make decisions in their own best interests’, and that it’s no surprise why deals like this are negotiated in secret. ‘The reason why these negotiated behind closed doors — the reason this is not going to Parliament and why it’s not being brought in front of the public — is because, for past trade agreements, the government has realized the public does not support [them],’ Grewal said.”
To read the full article – which includes excellent quotes from Hupacasath First Nation councillor Brenda Sayers, Leadnow.ca executive director Jamie Biggar, BC Teachers’ Federation president Susan Lambert, BC Federation of Labour secretary-treasurer Irene Lanzinger, and Forest Ethics Advocacy tar sands campaigner Ben West – can be found at http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/02/21/FIPA-Lawsuit/.
For more background on the Canada-China FIPA, go to http://canadians.org/blog/?p=19289.
To make a donation to this legal challenge, please go to https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/5RWS1.
