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pa28

(6,145 posts)
Wed Jan 14, 2015, 12:16 AM Jan 2015

Canada being sued for billions under NAFTA investor protections

From the Toronto Star:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/01/13/canada_being_sued_for_billions_under_nafta_investor_protections.html

OTTAWA—The private owner of the Detroit-Windsor bridge is suing Canada for billions under NAFTA, one of many legal cases cited in a new study on corporations’ growing use of investor protection measures to challenge the Canadian, U.S. and Mexican governments.

Michigan billionaire Matty Moroun, owner of the existing bridge connecting Windsor to Detroit, is claiming damages from Ottawa in connection with Canada’s plan to help build a second bridge linking Ontario to Michigan at Detroit.

Moroun, whose bridge company opposes the Canadian project, claims Canada’s handling of the pre-construction phase of the proposed new bridge has violated his firm’s right under NAFTA provisions to be treated no differently than a Canadian company. In an initial filing, Moroun’s company asked a NAFTA arbitration tribunal for $3.5 billion in damages from Ottawa.

.............

Currently, Canada faces nine active ISDS claims challenging government measures that allegedly interfere with the expected profitability of foreign investments, the report says.

These include challenges to a ban on fracking by the Quebec government; a decision by a Canadian federal court to invalidate a pharmaceutical patent on the basis that it was not sufficiently innovative or useful; provisions to promote the rapid adoption of renewable energies; a moratorium on offshore wind projects in Lake Ontario and the decision to block a controversial mega-quarry in Nova Scotia.



http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/01/13/canada_being_sued_for_billions_under_nafta_investor_protections.html

Article nicely illustrates how private capital can seek damages from local and national governments exercising their right as democratically elected bodies to make law in the public interest.

With the TPP we'll also be subject to investor state dispute claims like the one highlighted here. Before we were "leveling the playing field" with Canada and Mexico.

Now we're going to "level the playing field" by pressuring our environmental and labor law toward the standard of our new partners in Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. How do you think that's going to work out for us?
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Canada being sued for billions under NAFTA investor protections (Original Post) pa28 Jan 2015 OP
Yeah,We are screwed.All of this needs to stop. easychoice Jan 2015 #1
Guys, you've got it all wrong MFrohike Jan 2015 #2
k & r. Thanks for posting. nm rhett o rick Jan 2015 #3
If corporations are people, they are amoral sociopaths. Electric Monk Jan 2015 #4
K & R Thespian2 Jan 2015 #5
NAFTA courts. Trade courts. Yet another reason that I so strongly oppose these trade JDPriestly Jan 2015 #6
There are people behind this nonsense. I say they should be forced to come forward. Spitfire of ATJ Jan 2015 #7
K&R Scuba Jan 2015 #8

easychoice

(1,043 posts)
1. Yeah,We are screwed.All of this needs to stop.
Wed Jan 14, 2015, 12:25 AM
Jan 2015

Europe is not going to tolerate TPP.Interesting times.

MFrohike

(1,980 posts)
2. Guys, you've got it all wrong
Wed Jan 14, 2015, 12:53 AM
Jan 2015

These trade* treaties are good because a bunch of talking heads said they were! Nevermind the leaked documents and the repeated failures of the last 30 years, this time it's different.

*Trade in name only. Their effect on trade is pretty minimal. These are really rules pacts, designed to harmonize rules across countries to a minimal level.

Thespian2

(2,741 posts)
5. K & R
Wed Jan 14, 2015, 01:02 AM
Jan 2015

Shows how screwed up the world is under NAFTA and how governments will lose all control under TPP.

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