Canada remains vulnerable to costly NAFTA investor–state lawsuits even after removing the controversial dispute settlement process from the renegotiated NAFTA deal, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) that urges the Trudeau government to help phase out the investor–state dispute settlement regime (ISDS) from all its international agreements.
International trade and investment, deep integration
This letter was sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 10, 2021.
Dear Prime Minister,
OTTAWA – As governments around the world prepare for World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings on intellectual property rights March 10-11, civil society groups are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to support a landmark waiver that would help boost global access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and PPE.
On his first day in office, US president Joe Biden revoked the permit for the controversial Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline. The partially built project was supposed to carry bitumen from the Alberta tar sands to Gulf Coast refineries in the United States. Green-lighted by Donald Trump in 2017, but delayed in the courts for years, this climate-busting project is now thankfully dead.
Andy Morffew (Flickr Creative Commons)
Throughout 2019, we saw multiple variations on the same grim headline: “Dead Whale Found With 48 Pounds of Plastic in Belly.” “Dead Whale Found With 88 Pounds of Plastic in Belly.” “Dead Whale Found With 220 Pounds of Plastic in Belly.”
VANCOUVER — The 150th anniversary of British Columbia joining Canada arrives at a time when people and institutions are being asked to reckon with the foundational impacts of racism in our society. Challenging Racist British Columbia: 150 Years and Counting, is a new publication examining the long history of racist policies that have impacted Indigenous, Black and racialized communities in the province over those 150 years, tying those histories to present day anti-racist movements.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Trade Justice Network host a conversation with global experts on the Indian and South African governments' proposal at the WTO for a waiver from certain intellectual property rights in the TRIPS agreement so that countries can confidently and affordably respond to the COVID-19 emergency. Special attention is paid to Canada's opposition to the TRIPS waiver, shared by the U.S., EU and other rich countries, which is debunked by webinar participants.
Speakers include:
In this issue:
In the Speech from the Throne this September, the Trudeau government said it “remains committed to a national, universal pharmacare program and will accelerate steps to achieve this system.” That is an improvement over the Liberals' pledge, during the 2019 federal election, to provide $6 billion over four years as a "down payment" on pharmacare. How much of an improvement remains to be seen.