I consider myself privileged to be born and raised in Canada, a country where, generally, I feel safe and secure when I lay my head down at night. However, Prime Minister Harper's current course of action (including CNOOC/Nexen and FIPA) does anything but make me feel safe and secure.
Harper likes to talk about transparency in government; however, he is actively working behind closed doors on secret negotiations that place Canada and the physical/economic health and welfare of Canadians in serious jeopardy. When most people (politicians and media) had headed home for the weekend, Harper announced that he will allow CNOOC (China's state-owned oil company) to take over Nexen (Canada's fossil fuel giant), which puts three to six billion barrels of tar sands oil in CNOOC's possession. Although I am not a supporter of the tar sands, I certainly do not want their ownership to lie outside of Canada nor with someone who can/will exploit the environment for shear economic benefit.
As bad as the CNOOC / Nexen deal is, it will be far worse if Harper passes FIPA. The Canada-China Foreign Investment Protection Act (FIPA), another Harper secret initiative, is an extreme trade agreement that will give unprecedented powers to Chinese corporations that own Canadian natural resources. For example, if both deals are in place, CNOOC would be able to sue Canadian governments (any level) through secret tribunals for doing anything to impede Chinese economic growth/development. This means that if any branch/level of Canadian government implements environmental protections or job creation efforts that in some way hinder CNOOC (or another Chinese corporation) they are likely to be sued for millions or billions of potential lost revenues. As an added bonus, this FIPA deal locks Canada in for over 30 years, with severe penalties for withdrawing early.
One of the greatest features of Canada is our vast and diverse natural environment. Sadly, Harper and the Canadian government are doing far too little to protect and sustain our environment and the resources it contains, both for my generation and the generations to come. Canada's natural resources should not be for sale or made available to other countries through any treaty or contract, and our environment should not be destroyed or endangered in the name of economic development that is short-sighted and only benefits government and big business, while leaving the poor and working class to suffer the consequences and clean up the mess. What does Harper propose we tell our grandchildren when there are no parks to play in or clean water to drink?
Canadian democracy and natural resources must be protected from corporate greed, foreign and domestic. Now that Harper has allowed the CNOOC takeover of Nexen we must prevent the passing of FIPA!
]Marianne Sprague
Prince George
