International Trade committee  I'm going to leave the answer on the issue of what Canada has not done well enough to Mr. Shrybman. What I would like to point out here answers your question, I think, but it is in the context of this specific case. What can arise and what may be arising in this case is a situat

International Trade committee  As I mentioned earlier, it's also highly relevant that there's no open door for oral submissions. Whereas the Supreme Court can decide that a given intervenor will bring an important perspective to help them make a better decision, in the case of chapter 11 arbitration, that will

International Trade committee  I would make a very brief point. Ecojustice obviously is a public interest environmental organization and doesn't make a habit of taking positions on matters of international trade, and so I should probably speak in a personal capacity. I would simply say that I agree with the n

International Trade committee  Just so that we're clear, the Province of Newfoundland would always be represented by the Department of Foreign Affairs--

International Trade committee  Yes, that is a good question. I would like to come back to Mr. Shrybman's argument, which in my view hits the nail on the head. Before deciding if we should make improvements to chapter 11, we should determine whether it helps promote investments. It is quite unclear whether cha

International Trade committee  As legal counsel with Ecojustice Canada, my services are pro bono for the environmental groups that I work with. Ecojustice Canada is a non-profit charitable organization. We are funded by public donations and by private foundations. We don't receive a penny of government money,

International Trade committee  I can speculate. Municipalities are small fish. Provinces are bigger fish. Quebec and Ontario are among the bigger fish in Canada. I think with Quebec enacting the first ban, it's quite conceivable that Dow decided they were going to try to draw a line in the sand and try, at bes

International Trade committee  There's a limitation period of three years from the time they're aware of the measure. I can't remember if it's article 1117 or article 1118. It's somewhere around there.

International Trade committee  It's difficult to speculate. To tie this back in to your question about the limitation period, the 2,4-D ban was enacted by Quebec in April 2006, so by my math, we would be in theory coming up quite close to this limitation period. However, there's an open issue as to whether or

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. I think it's a good one, and I think it starts moving us towards solutions. While we're dealing with the conflict in this scenario, it does point us towards the need for changes. It also gives me a chance to provide what I think is a different perspect

International Trade committee  Very quickly, I appreciate the statements and the question with respect to national treatment. Without taking any position on the utility of investor-state provisions, without making any comments with respect that matter, I think it's very important to distinguish between a numbe

International Trade committee  It's an interesting hypothetical. The Quebec government took a targeted measure. This is about 2,4-D and lawn pesticides, cosmetic pesticides in particular. There are specific carve-outs for different applications—for agriculture, for forestry. Whenever the argument gets mixed

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. If I'd be permitted an extra five to seven minutes—which I recognize would go over the 10 minutes allotted to us—I think it would allow a better discussion of the case itself.

International Trade committee  Thank you. My name is Will Amos. I'm the staff lawyer and a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic. Ecojustice is Canada's foremost non-profit environmental law organization. We're best known for our litigation work and our law reform