Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke about the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism that is included in chapter 11 of NAFTA.
Here is a real-life example. Suppose, under NAFTA, that an American multinational wants to invest in building some sort of plant in Mexico. The local government conducts an impact assessment and realizes that, if that plant is built, it will pollute the groundwater. However, because of the chapter on dispute settlement, the local government will not win a dispute, even though its citizens' drinking water will be polluted by the plant. The company will win because it might lose money. That means that the governments cannot protect their citizens or the environment. For example, Canadians may see their environment harmed by large corporations because of a similar clause in the agreement with Europe.