A German news show has published what it says is the full text of the Canada-EU free trade deal.
The 521 pages of the 1,500-page document was posted to the website of German TV network ARD’s news show Tagesschau on Wednesday.
According to some experts now poring through the document, it appears Canada caved on the issue of patent protection for drugs.
The EU had been pushing Canada to lengthen patent protections for drugs, a move that was estimated to cost Canadians $900 million to $1.65 billion annually. The Conservative government in Ottawa has promised to compensate provinces for added drug costs, but no word yet on whether individuals will be compensated as well.
Council for Canadians political director Brent Patterson called the document “highly problematic,” adding the language specifically in the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) chapter is “undemocratic.”
“It's the same provision that we've seen in NAFTA that has been so disastrous,” Patterson told HuffPost Canada. “In terms of procurement, there is nothing that we can see about cities being excepted as so many had asked to have done.”
Patterson said several municipal governments including Toronto, Victoria, Hamilton and Red Deer asked to be exempted from CETA rules that banned “buy local” policies and other tools to support local jobs and development through public spending.
Though Patterson says the documents should have been released earlier, he said the leak would allow groups like his own to start talking to Canadians and build opposition momentum – with possible support from the Liberals party and NDP.
“If the Germans are not satisfied with this, we can see a rocky road ahead,” Patterson said.
Scott Sinclair with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives called the procurement provisions in the document “the most extensive set of commitments that Canada has ever made” – reaching down to the municipal level.
“It will interfere with, and potentially end, the procurement of economic development policy tool and interfere with municipal governments, universities or hospitals who, for example, want to implement buy-local food purchasing policies,” he told HuffPost Canada.
It’s “overkill,” he added.
According to University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist, the leaked text addresses concerns many activists have about ISDS.
Critics argued that the trade deal would create an international body through which corporations would be able to sue governments if those companies felt a country’s laws violated its rights under the trade deal. They say these sorts of dispute mechanisms essentially usurp a country’s sovereignty.
The leaked deal includes a clause that allows Canada to review the dispute mechanism after three years. Geist described the clause as “weak.”
A spokesperson for International Trade Minister Ed Fast said the department had no comment on the leak.
With files from Althia Raj
The 521 pages of the 1,500-page document was posted to the website of German TV network ARD’s news show Tagesschau on Wednesday.
According to some experts now poring through the document, it appears Canada caved on the issue of patent protection for drugs.
The EU had been pushing Canada to lengthen patent protections for drugs, a move that was estimated to cost Canadians $900 million to $1.65 billion annually. The Conservative government in Ottawa has promised to compensate provinces for added drug costs, but no word yet on whether individuals will be compensated as well.
Council for Canadians political director Brent Patterson called the document “highly problematic,” adding the language specifically in the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) chapter is “undemocratic.”
“It's the same provision that we've seen in NAFTA that has been so disastrous,” Patterson told HuffPost Canada. “In terms of procurement, there is nothing that we can see about cities being excepted as so many had asked to have done.”
Patterson said several municipal governments including Toronto, Victoria, Hamilton and Red Deer asked to be exempted from CETA rules that banned “buy local” policies and other tools to support local jobs and development through public spending.
Though Patterson says the documents should have been released earlier, he said the leak would allow groups like his own to start talking to Canadians and build opposition momentum – with possible support from the Liberals party and NDP.
“If the Germans are not satisfied with this, we can see a rocky road ahead,” Patterson said.
Scott Sinclair with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives called the procurement provisions in the document “the most extensive set of commitments that Canada has ever made” – reaching down to the municipal level.
“It will interfere with, and potentially end, the procurement of economic development policy tool and interfere with municipal governments, universities or hospitals who, for example, want to implement buy-local food purchasing policies,” he told HuffPost Canada.
It’s “overkill,” he added.
According to University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist, the leaked text addresses concerns many activists have about ISDS.
Critics argued that the trade deal would create an international body through which corporations would be able to sue governments if those companies felt a country’s laws violated its rights under the trade deal. They say these sorts of dispute mechanisms essentially usurp a country’s sovereignty.
The leaked deal includes a clause that allows Canada to review the dispute mechanism after three years. Geist described the clause as “weak.”
Weak side declaration at p.185 offers Canada a review of IP and investment chapter after 3 years http://t.co/e70QEaIrAw 2/2
— Michael Geist (@mgeist) August 13, 2014Leaked #CETA confirms Canada caved on pharma patent dispute resolution issue as EU language adopted http://t.co/e70QEaIrAw 1/2
— Michael Geist (@mgeist) August 13, 2014A spokesperson for International Trade Minister Ed Fast said the department had no comment on the leak.
With files from Althia Raj