Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Mulcair says EU shouldn't support CETA if investor-state provision included

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair says that the European Union shouldn't support the Canada-EU Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) if it includes an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision.
iPolitics reports, "Mulcair told a French think tank [at the Royaumont conference] on Sunday that the European Union shouldn't support the deal if investor-state dispute settlement continues to be included." Mulcair said, "Europe shouldn't let itself be locked into an agreement that contains such a provision, especially since it'll serve as the basis for an eventual agreement with the United States. Because ultimately, all these tools, whether it be trade, public spending, natural resource exploitation, or finances, should be at the service of citizens."

Mulcair also noted that Germany, Austria and the Netherlands share his party's opposition to the investor-state provision. In various campaign blogs, the Council of Canadians has pointed to this opposition in GermanyFranceAustria and the European Parliament.
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow tweeted, "Good move! Mulcair attacks investor-state in CETA! Yes!"
While this is undoubtedly a good move, Mulcair has yet to express his opposition to CETA itself. NDP trade critic Don Davies maintains that the NDP does not believe ISDS "is necessary in trade deals," but that "it is only one component of a trade deal and we assess them as a whole." This despite the reality that the Harper failed to meet most of the 17 conditions for the deal that the NDP outlined in 2012.
That said, if the NDP position is still lacking, the Conservatives and Liberals both attacked Mulcair's comments as threatening the deal.
It is not expected that CETA will be ratified before the upcoming federal election on October 19, 2015.
For more on the Council of Canadians campaign to defeat the ratification of CETA, please click here.
Original Article
Source: rabble.ca/
Author:  BRENT PATTERSON 

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