Search results for “site/GATS”

  • An island in the Peace River and in West Moberly First Nations territory that will be lost forever if the Site C dam is completed and its reservoir is filled. Photo: Garth Lenz.

    Reconciliation in action?

    Far from it, says chief of holdout First Nation over deal with province on Site C In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was tasked with informing all Canadians about what happened to Indigenous Peoples in residential schools, defined the word reconciliation as a process of “establishing and maintaining…

  • Trade and Investment Research Project

    The GATS and South Africa’s National Health Act

    A Cautionary Tale Download 341.76 KB40 pages This new study shows how South Africa’s flagship health legislation conflicts with binding commitments the former apartheid regime negotiated under the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).  This trade treaty conflict threatens to undermine the much-needed legislation and, if…

  • What cuts to insect scientists tell us about federal austerity in Canada

    The federal government is sacrificing vital scientific capacity for ideological reasons—and hamstringing their own policymaking ability in the process

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    Challenging Site C: The BC Utilities Commission preliminary report

    The BC Utilities Commission preliminary report demonstrates why independent review of mega-projects like Site C is so essential, even with the short timeframe imposed by the BC government (the final report is due November 1). The previous government’s deliberate exemption of Site C from BCUC review is scandalous in subverting…

  • Trade and Investment Research Project

    GATS

    How the WTO’s New “Services” Negotiations Threaten Democracy Download 59.02 KB136 pages   Despite the breakdown in global trade talks in Seattle in December 1999, negotiations are now underway at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to radically restructure the role of government worldwide–subjecting an ever-greater degree of governmental decision-making to…

  • The WAC Bennett dam impounds the world’s seventh-largest reservoir. In 2012 a BC Hydro employee speculated a fracking operation may have caused a sudden change in the reservoir’s water levels. Photo: Jayce Hawkins.

    Peace River Frack-Up

    Part 1 of a report on how fracking poses risks to BC Hydro’s Peace River dams Read Part 2 of the report View timeline BC Hydro has known for well over a decade that its Peace Canyon dam is built on weak, unstable rock and that an earthquake triggered by…

  • A natural gas industry disposal well operation near BC's Hydro's Peace Canyon Dam. BC Hydro fears any re-sumption of pumping operations at the well site could trigger an earthquake with potentially devastating conse-quences for the dam and the safety of people living downstream. Photo © Garth Lenz.

    The Well from Hell

    Part 2 of a report on how fracking poses risks to BC Hydro’s Peace River Dams Read Part 1 of the report View timeline BC Hydro was so worried that its Peace Canyon dam could be badly damaged if an earthquake was triggered at a nearby natural gas industry disposal…

  • Trade and Investment Research Project

    WTO services treaty expanding into public services and domestic regulation, areas thought off-limits to international trade agreements

    Unknown to most Canadians, senior government officials have just returned from a negotiating session in Geneva to expand the reach of the World Trade Organization’s services agreement into areas usually considered the exclusive prerogative of domestic policy-making. On the table are public services such as education and health care, and…

  • The end of Site C? BC Utilities Commission finds “tension cracks” in BC Hydro’s case for the mega dam

    The BC Utilities Commission final report on Site C is a bombshell. It now seems very likely we will see the termination of the BC Hydro mega-project by the end of the year. I had anticipated a final report that was more equivocal, which would result in a difficult decision…

  • Trade and Investment Research Project

    Trade rules create barriers to high quality municipal services

    At the just-finished annual meeting in Hamilton of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) delegates were undoubtedly talking about municipal strategies for water protection in the wake of the findings of the Walkerton Inquiry. They should be aware that in seeking to implement the recommendations of Mr. Justice O’Connor to…

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    Site C’s economic justifications unconvincing: It’s time we made decisions differently

    There is no question that the new BC government’s decision to proceed with the Site C dam was a very difficult one. The previous government left them with a poison pill. With $2 billion already spent, the Horgan government faced a no-win choice, with substantial political and economic costs for…

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    Eight reasons the Site C dam is not needed: My testimony to BC Utilities Commission

    Last week, I appeared before the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) at their Technical Presentation Session in Vancouver, and gave a brief presentation about my findings relating to the economics of the proposed Site C dam. Here’s what I had to say: Thank you to the Commission for the invitation to…