Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland was interviewed on CBC Radio, The House (June 10). http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse (The interview starts at 3:05, ends at 16:30)
Host Chris Hall asked some hard questions of Freeland re use of “hard power” in foreign policy.
BUT re NAFTA, Nothing re ISDS (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) – also referred to as “Chapter 11”. To me ISDS is a metaphor for Big Government cooperating with Big Business.
(Ironically, Freeland refers to the G-7 “Club”. And the G-20 being an expansion (of that Club). The mind-bent is telling!)
MY REPLY TO “THE HOUSE” (CBC):
I do not know how you can ask questions about trade deals and NOT query the Investor State Dispute Settlement chapters in them.
Canadians have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to corporations under ISDS. Governments learn their lesson; it puts a chill on legislation & regulation to protect environment and citizens.
I don’t pay taxes in order to undermine our system of Government, or to enrich the wrong people.
If the CBC is afraid to ask the tough questions, in today’s world, the population will inform itself. Which widens the gap between the governed and the collaborators with Big Business.
~~~ End of Submission ~~~
SUBMIT TO:
CBC Radio, The House, http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/contact
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COMMENT:
This YouTube posting shows how the public in Germany is informed about ISDS. German Public Broadcast makes an information film. I don’t think you can call a citizenry “informed” about their nations’ trade / foreign policy if the media and Government do not explain the ISDS clauses in the Deals:
A. 2015-11-16 YouTube: German Public TV showing Europeans re ISDS (Investor State Dispute Settlements). Canada? U.S.? What are we seeing?
In this second posting, there is a picture of the hundreds of thousands of Germans that, just on one day, in one location, protested the Trade deals:
B. 2015-10-10 Hundreds of thousands shut down Berlin to protest “Trojan Horse” – – Monsanto’s dream trade deal. The Guardian
I don’t think it’s possible to have B (hundreds of thousands of citizens taking to the streets in protest) without A (an informed citizenry).
These two specific events are not sequential, B happened before A.
But “B” (public uprising, hundreds of thousands) happened in a context of longer term, fearless, public broadcast.
“A” (the Public TV YouTube re ISDS) is a continuation of journalists doing their job – – the creation of Context out of which things happen, or, do not happen.
My interpretation is reinforced, for example:
Prior to a decision regarding the moratorium on GMO crops in Germany, a documentary filmmaker from German Public Television came to Saskatchewan where there had been early, extensive adoption of GMO crops.
Might I add: “biotech” had received bounteous support from the Federal Government (then Fed Finance Minister Ralph Goodale), the Provincial Government (NDP Premier Roy Romanow) and the University of Saskatchewan. Monsanto led the way to the bonanza (U of S, College of Agriculture), later followed by the other biotech-chemical corporations moving into the University, too.
It was observed (in Germany) that the (material) coming into Europe, in advance of review of the GMO moratorium, was all industry-generated. In fearless fashion, Public Television sent a documentary-maker to Canada to see what the story was “on the ground”.
Here today, in Canada, the CBC interviewer may not have had time to ask Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland the hard questions about ISDS. That does not matter. I submitted my feedback because if I don’t, I help give our public broadcaster license to never address ISDS.