Post Tagged with: "secrecy"

TPP rally. Ottawa, Canada, June 10 2014 by SumOfUs (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/o8zqnJ

Why Canadians Have Good Reason to Be Wary of the TPP

Canada’s business community has mobilized in recent weeks to call on the government to adopt a more aggressive, engaged approach with respect to the biggest trade negotiations on the planet – the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. The TPP involves 12 countries including the United States, Australia, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam, Brunei, Japan, Peru, and Chile.

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that negotiators insist that progress is being made, but some in the business community are concerned that Canada may be left out of the deal unless it makes significant concessions on market access (including the dismantling of supply management in several agricultural sectors), restrictive intellectual property protections, and investor-state dispute settlement rules that allow companies to sue governments and potentially trump national courts.

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June 2, 2015 12 comments Columns

Canadian Secrecy on the TPP

CBC’s Curt Petrovich reports on how Canada is among the most secretive of the Trans Pacific Partnership countries, refusing to answer basic questions on a recent negotiation session quietly conducted in Vancouver.

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June 24, 2013 2 comments News

Secrecy and the Limits of Transparency

Earlier this week, I appeared on TVO’s The Agenda for a wide ranging discussion on secrecy and transparency.  The video of the program is embedded below.

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June 21, 2013 Comments are Disabled News

Secrecy the Standard as Canada Enters Trans Pacific Partnership Talks

Despite growing opposition in Canada, the Canadian government has begun formal participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, aimed at establishing one of the world’s most ambitious trade agreements. As nearly a dozen countries – including the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Mexico and Vietnam – gathered in New Zealand last week for the 14th round of talks, skeptics here have already expressed doubts about the benefits of the proposed deal.

Canada has free-trade agreements with the United States, Mexico, Chile and Peru, leaving just six countries – currently representing less than 1 per cent of Canadian exports – as the net gain. Moreover, the price of entry may be high, since leaked documents suggest the deal might require a major overhaul of Canadian agriculture, investment, intellectual property and culture protection rules.

While the substance of the TPP is cause for concern, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) argues the more immediate issue is the lack of transparency associated with both the negotiations and Canada’s participation in them. The talks remain shrouded in secrecy, with a draft text that is confidential; public interest groups are largely banned from the venue where the negotiations are being held.

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December 12, 2012 8 comments Columns

Secrecy the Standard as Canada Enters Trans Pacific Partnership Talks

Appeared in the Toronto Star on December 9, 2012 as Secrecy the Standard as Canada Enters Trans Pacific Partnership Talks Despite growing opposition in Canada, the Canadian government has begun formal participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, aimed at establishing one of the world’s most ambitious trade agreements. As […]

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December 12, 2012 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive