International Trade committee  No, you're putting words in my mouth. I'm saying that the many regulatory issues that have been glommed onto international trade negotiations have provided a very convenient way for corporate lobbyists to get regulatory changes they find difficult to achieve through the front doo

International Trade committee  The approach I would favour is perhaps the one that Canada took when it negotiated the free trade agreement with EFTA, that is, with Iceland and Switzerland and countries outside the European Union. It's essentially a tariff liberalization agreement that relied mainly on the Worl

International Trade committee  I just want to say very quickly that I don't dispute that the beef industry will gain new opportunities through tariff elimination in these key markets, but your job as parliamentarians is to look at the overall net benefit of this to Canada. That includes the many other issues t

International Trade committee  I think we have to look at the overall impacts on the Canadian economy and Canadian trade. We have to ask whether there's a net benefit. This is setting aside all the other chapters of the TPP that deal with these important regulatory issues we heard, from copyright to ISDS, temp

International Trade committee  The problem with the types of temporary entry provisions that are being negotiated under trade agreements like the TPP is that we give up a large amount of regulatory control. These are essentially rights that are not given to workers to move across borders, but to employers to d

International Trade committee  Thank you to the committee for the invitation. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is an independent, non-partisan research institute. This year, as part of the ongoing debate over whether Canada should ratify the TPP, we have published seven studies and will release mor

International Trade committee  Yes, I have a critical perspective on trade investment treaties.

International Trade committee  The investment provisions of the NAFTA and subsequent treaties have been used to attack environmental protections in Canada. The subject matter of trade treaties, as I've said, is changing quite dramatically. They involve regulatory matters that need to be fully debated, and inst

International Trade committee  Yes, Canada could insist on a more open process.

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  That would be a matter that would have to be agreed to by all the members. There's also leeway that can be taken by governments and negotiators. The United States negotiators, as is generally the case in negotiations, use leaks strategically. They are much more open about what

International Trade committee  I think this will be a difficult negotiation to conclude, particularly as the number of countries involved expand. The United States has some very ambitious, aggressive demands, but at the same time it's very protective of its own sensitivities in many areas. I could see that in,

International Trade committee  Well, when you combine all the different elements, Canada has one of the strongest systems of patent protection in the world, particularly for pharmaceuticals. As I mentioned in my remarks, one important difference is that Canada alone of the G-7 countries does not have a patent

International Trade committee  A Canadian investor, unless it's happened very recently—I've been on leave for a few months, as you may know—has never won an investor-state arbitration. I think it's only a matter of time until that happens. In NAFTA chapter 11, yes, we have lost or settled I think six or seven

International Trade committee  They go beyond the WTO TRIPS. The proposals, in particular demands from the United States, would go beyond Canada's existing system of patent protection.