A day or two ago I posted that the whole Enbridge spectacle was starting to look kind of farfetched to me. And that all that attention focused in one place made me nervous about what we were not supposed to be looking at.
Could it be what Andrew Nikoforuk is talking about here in the Tyee about the "Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the People's Republic of China for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments?" (Its on the government of Canada's website on the Foreign Affairs and International Trade page.)
This agreement was tabled on September 26, with virtually no fanfare, except that Elizabeth May noticed it and has written about it on her website. I am absolutely sick about this. This gives Chinese companies the right to use only materials and workers they specify on projects they would own. It gives them the right to sue provincial and municipal governments in Canada if they pass regulations that hurt their projects or profits. It offers them protection and security from domestic opposition to their projects. Plenty has been written about current foreign investment in the oilsands. Chinese oil companies already own a good sized chunk of them , and if CNOOC is allowed to take over Nexen, they will have a larger chunk. They own the tankers and the refineries Enbridge is proposing to use for its bitumen. And there is some discussion about whether Chinese companies might be interested in building and operating the Northern Gateway. If this agreeement goes through on October 31, the work that so many British Columbians have done to protect our coast, rivers, rainforest, watersheds, habitats and communities might well be for naught.
The Council of Canadians is on this,too, with a letter you can send to all MPs.
What can we do to stop this?
h/t The Disaffected Lib, Thwap
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