Damn Trade Agreements

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Damn Trade Agreements
Topic Started: Nov 29 2015, 10:22 AM (523 Views)
Darcie	Nov 29 2015, 10:22 AM Post #1
Skeptic Posts: 31,154 Group: Member Member #714 Joined: March 30, 2010	Texas Oil Tycoon T. Boone Pickens' $700-Million NAFTA Lawsuit Against Ontario Nears End Quote: For the past four years, Texas oil billionaire and corporate raider T. Boone Pickens has been suing the Liberal government in Ontario under NAFTA, arguing he has been the victim of "unfair" backroom deals involving the province’s green energy program. A NAFTA tribunal is expected to rule on Pickens’ $700-million lawsuit this month, The New York Times reported Friday, describing the dispute as the 87-year-old tycoon’s “last big battle.” The case is one of many that has some social activists concerned that foreign businesses enjoy too much influence over policy under NAFTA’s chapter 11, which allows foreign investors to sue Canadian governments to protect their investments, without first going through Canadian courts. A recent study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said 70 per cent of claims under NAFTA’s chapter 11 were targeted against Canada, making it the most-sued country under the trade agreement. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/10/16/t-boone-pickens-ontario-lawsuit-nafta_n_8313942.html See the kind of stuff that other Conservative government brought us with their trade agreements. Every agreement we sign we are no longer masters in our own house. Anyone and everyone can tell us what to do and who can get our contracts and how our money should be spent. Trade is OK, only not when it infringes on your government sovereignty.



haili	Nov 29 2015, 12:32 PM Post #2
Gold Star Member Posts: 7,084 Group: Member Member #387 Joined: September 15, 2006	I won't be surprised if Trudeau signs it.



Darcie	Nov 29 2015, 12:42 PM Post #3
Skeptic Posts: 31,154 Group: Member Member #714 Joined: March 30, 2010	haili Nov 29 2015, 12:32 PM I won't be surprised if Trudeau signs it. Lots of pressure on governments from corporations. I would hope he doesn't sign the new agreement without substantial changes. Also pressure from consumers like you and I who want cheaper goods, strangely enough after years of NAFTA what we get is not cheaper and the quality is questionable.



Delphi51	Nov 29 2015, 06:35 PM Post #4
Member title Posts: 13,967 Group: Administration Member #441 Joined: October 10, 2006	Is the treaty wrong or did the Ontario government do something wrong?



Kahu	Nov 29 2015, 11:56 PM Post #5
Posts: 31,109 Group: Administration Member #150 Joined: December 14, 2005	Let's put this trade agreement in it's proper perspective ... it's purely political. The US wants to keep checks on China and it's growing influence in the Pacific. In the early days of the TPP NZ with three other countries set up a purely based reciprocal trade agreement ... The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (P4) Agreement between Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Singapore, and New Zealand is the first multi-party free trade agreement linking Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. It is also New Zealand's first trade agreement with a Latin American country. The P4 agreement, which stands for “Pacific 4”, came into force in 2006. Under P4, most tariffs on goods traded between member countries were removed immediately, with remaining tariffs phased out. Other P4 measures to facilitate trade in goods cover rules of origin, quarantine rules and technical barriers to trade. P4 also includes measures to open up trade in services as well as opportunities to compete for government procurement contracts. The agreement promotes cooperation on customs procedures, intellectual property and competition policy. As part of the overall package, the members of P4 became party to binding agreements on environment cooperation and labour cooperation. These agreements create a forum to promote sound environment and labour policies and practices. Source Link NZ to join new Asian investment bank New Zealand has agreed to become a founding member of a bank that China is setting up as a counter-weight to the American-backed World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). A signing ceremony of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing in October last year. The Government said New Zealand was the first Western country to join the negotiations to set up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. ... Meanwhile, the United States has not been a supporter of the bank. New Zealand, however, will not be the only Western nation to belong. Australia, Korea and a number of European countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom, have joined or applied to join. Source Link



Trotsky	Dec 2 2015, 04:14 AM Post #6
Big City Boy Posts: 38,319 Group: Member Member #79 Joined: September 8, 2005	Quote: New Zealand, however, will not be the only Western nation to belong. What makes NZ a "Western nation?" Good, for her. The IMF needs a counterbalancing force. Edited by Trotsky, Dec 2 2015, 04:15 AM.



Darcie	Dec 2 2015, 04:18 AM Post #7
Skeptic Posts: 31,154 Group: Member Member #714 Joined: March 30, 2010	Is NZ all for giving corporations that kind of power over its country? If so I am very surprised, abdicating control of your own house all for a few more bucks, and not guaranteed either.



Kahu	Dec 2 2015, 12:45 PM Post #8
Posts: 31,109 Group: Administration Member #150 Joined: December 14, 2005	Trotsky Dec 2 2015, 04:14 AM Quote: New Zealand, however, will not be the only Western nation to belong. What makes NZ a "Western nation?" Good, for her. The IMF needs a counterbalancing force. Well how's that cuzzie bro? The Yuan now recognised in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights basket.



Kahu	Dec 2 2015, 01:08 PM Post #9
Posts: 31,109 Group: Administration Member #150 Joined: December 14, 2005	Darcie Dec 2 2015, 04:18 AM Is NZ all for giving corporations that kind of power over its country? If so I am very surprised, abdicating control of your own house all for a few more bucks, and not guaranteed either. Hell, no ... but we'll work our way round that obstacle in good time. We don't have as big an economy as Canada but we do have quite a diverse range of skills and opportunities which other countries don't have. We can make changes in our economy quickly and seamlessly, we don't have provincial or federal obstacles to overcome as you do. We see this as a bit of an opportunity to kick us into higher gear.



Durgan	Dec 3 2015, 02:34 AM Post #10
Veteran Member Posts: 13,273 Group: Gardening Guru Member #720 Joined: March 31, 2010	NZ is also blessed with almost unlimited cheap labour from the nearby islands. The six Pacific countries initially identified to supply the workers are; Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Vanuatu



Darcie	Dec 3 2015, 03:18 AM Post #11
Skeptic Posts: 31,154 Group: Member Member #714 Joined: March 30, 2010	Kahu Dec 2 2015, 01:08 PM Darcie Dec 2 2015, 04:18 AM Is NZ all for giving corporations that kind of power over its country? If so I am very surprised, abdicating control of your own house all for a few more bucks, and not guaranteed either. Hell, no ... but we'll work our way round that obstacle in good time. We don't have as big an economy as Canada but we do have quite a diverse range of skills and opportunities which other countries don't have. We can make changes in our economy quickly and seamlessly, we don't have provincial or federal obstacles to overcome as you do. We see this as a bit of an opportunity to kick us into higher gear. I still believe that this is giving the corporate world a piece of the control of your country. If they don't like the way you do business then they can sue you. Even if they lose the taxpayer has to fund the legal costs that often goes on for years. I am totally at a loss how a country could sell their autonomy like that all for the 'maybe' of more money. Freedom to run your own house should never be given up for any reason.



Trotsky	Dec 3 2015, 05:04 AM Post #12
Big City Boy Posts: 38,319 Group: Member Member #79 Joined: September 8, 2005	Durgan Dec 3 2015, 02:34 AM NZ is also blessed with almost unlimited cheap labour from the nearby islands. The six Pacific countries initially identified to supply the workers are; Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Vanuatu Didn't they used to call that slavery?



Kahu	Dec 3 2015, 10:56 AM Post #13
Posts: 31,109 Group: Administration Member #150 Joined: December 14, 2005	Durgan Dec 3 2015, 02:34 AM NZ is also blessed with almost unlimited cheap labour from the nearby islands. The six Pacific countries initially identified to supply the workers are; Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Vanuatu With global warming and rising sea level that's going to be a non-issue. The seasonal labour quotas from the Islands are strictly regulated and many Islander families rely on the money remitted home.



Kahu	Dec 3 2015, 11:02 AM Post #14
Posts: 31,109 Group: Administration Member #150 Joined: December 14, 2005	Trotsky Dec 3 2015, 05:04 AM Didn't they used to call that slavery? Yes, they did. However the seasonal labour quota was set up at the request of Island governments and orchardists who had difficulty recruiting enough local labour at the right time. Actually we are now getting more Filipino workers too.



Kahu	Dec 3 2015, 11:10 AM Post #15
Posts: 31,109 Group: Administration Member #150 Joined: December 14, 2005	Darcie Dec 3 2015, 03:18 AM I am totally at a loss how a country could sell their autonomy like that all for the 'maybe' of more money. Freedom to run your own house should never be given up for any reason. Personally, I quite agree with you ... but there are ways and means around it too. New Zealand Inc (Govt & Opposition parties - trade liberalisation) have decided that this path is the best available for the future of the whole country.



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