International Trade committee  Sure. One of the biggest criticisms is that it's a secretive process. There have been a number of witnesses who have mentioned that treaties have already injected a fair bit of transparency into that process. Of course, that's reflected in what might be called the gold standard

International Trade committee  Yes, sure.

International Trade committee  I agree with Mr. Johnson's remarks. I believe your specific question asked why this came about, and I tried to explain it in my opening remarks. I think there are critics of investor state dispute settlement. As I said, you can really find a lot of information on this. I do thi

International Trade committee  —but in the treaties for many years now—certainly it's been Canada's model under NAFTA, and in many other treaties—it's not a secret or confidential process. It's quite to the contrary. It's very transparent. As an example, you can go on the international trade website, and you c

International Trade committee  —so that's a misinformed criticism.

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  This is my last point. Thank you. According to my watch, I've been speaking for five minutes.

International Trade committee  Oh, sorry. It's not clear that a consensus will be reached on a new system to replace it. Finally, if the current system is ratified, it's not clear that it implements a fair system. The members of the tribunal are paid by the state. There's no input from investors, and arguabl

International Trade committee  Thank you very much. It's my honour to appear before you as a witness. Thank you for inviting me. I will provide my opening remarks in English, but I'm bilingual—I'm a Montrealer—so feel free to interact with me in either language. I'm a partner in the law firm Norton Rose Ful