19 October 2016
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"Imagine a far-off dystopia when foreign corporations are given the same status as citizens in public hearings. When the overriding priority for government in issuing licenses for fracking, pipeline and other projects is to make the process simple for corporations. When, regardless of how much a project is opposed by the public, governments have to ensure protests and court challenges do not cause “undue” delays.
Unfortunately, this scenario is not some distant possibility but may become legally binding reality by 2017. That is when CETA – the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement – between Canada and the European Union is supposed to come into force... Neither Canadians nor Europeans can afford an agreement like CETA that shifts government decision-making further in favour of serving narrow commercial interests."
See: CETA: A significant shift from democratic governance (Policynote, link). And on the politics of doing the deal: Lessons to be learnt from CETA’s stalemate (VoteWatch Europe, link)
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