Why the Secrets Surrounding the TPP?

The Trans Pacific Partnership, why so secret?

by Council of Canadians

Do you remember the election debate over the Free Trade Agreement with the US (FTA) in 1988 or the public debate over the North American Free Trade agreement (NAFTA) in 1992-93? Do you remember when the U.S. published the details of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in 2001? Why is it that governments no longer think it makes sense to make the economic and social benefits of deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) understandable to the public? Is it a good deal for us?

The TPP is like NAFTA on steroids and involves twelve Pacific Rim countries. The negotiations have been kept secret but leaks of draft copies have revealed the true intent.

Although the TPP is called a trade agreement it is more of a corporate rights agreement. Only two of the 26 chapters under negotiation have anything to do with trade. The other 24 include how a government regulates corporate activity, what Crown corporations can and can not do, how long pharmaceutical patents or copyright terms should be, how the Internet is governed, the sharing of personal information across borders, banking and taxation rules and when a company or investor should be compensated when environmental or public health policies interfere with profits.

The TPP threatens community-led public policy with the inclusion of an investor rights' chapter and investor-state dispute process that would let companies sue governments in secret tribunals when public policies get in the way of profits. The public policy could be legal, fair and indiscriminate and still face corporate lawsuits demanding hundreds of millions and sometimes billions of dollars in compensation.

The Council of Canadians is calling on the federal government to end the secrecy and make all TPP chapters public.

For Immediate ReleaseMedia Alert

The Mid Island Chapter of the Council of Canadians is holding a rally outside the Nanaimo constituency office of MP James Lunney at 6-6894 Island Highway North Thursday August 29th from 4;30 to 6:00 to request that the MP represent his constituents, make the contents of the TPP public and facilitate a public debate over the merits of the agreement.
For Further information Contact

Paul Manly

Chapter Contact – Mid Island Chapter Council of Canadians

250 729-1254

midislandcoc@gmail.com

or
Harjap Grewal Regional Coordinator BC Yukon Region
hgrewal@canadians.org
or
Stuart Trew Trade Campaigner for the Council of Canadians
strew@canadians.org