EU drug demands would cost Canadians up to $2B a year:

[tay]

Confidential federal research on free-trade talks with Europe shows that giving the European Union just one part of what it wants on drug patents would cost Canadians up to $2 billion a year.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has always insisted it’s a "myth" that the Canada-EU free trade deal would increase health costs.

But in September, officials at Industry Canada and Health Canada combined forces to examine the cost of the European demand to implement a patent-term restoration system, The Canadian Press has learned.

Adam Taylor, a spokesman for Trade Minister Ed Fast, would not comment directly on the bureaucrats’ number-crunching.

"Our government has always sought to strike a balance between promoting innovation and job creation and ensuring that Canadians continue to have access to the affordable drugs they need,” Taylor said in an email, reiterating the government’s standard message on the drug patent regime.

"Our government will only sign an agreement if it is in the best interests of Canadians."

Still, the fact that federal officials are costing out options for compromise suggests strongly that Ottawa is considering a move — despite vociferous opposition from many provincial governments, the generic drug industry and some health-care advocates.

The Canadian generic drug industry has financed its own research that indicates the EU proposals would cost Canadians about $3 billion a year.


EU drug demands would cost Canadians up to $2B a year: federal research - Winnipeg Free Press

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

We could keep our drug plan by offering up dairy/milk/egg marketing boards to the EU. Then we keep our cheaper drugs and get cheaper eggs and milk. Easy peasy. Why we pay more for food than we need to is weird.

 

[tay]

Ontario opposes higher drug prices in Canada-EU trade deal



We can’t afford to let the Harper government sign a deal that makes us up to $3-billion poorer each year just so Big Pharma can make more money. Our provincial health care systems can’t afford it, and Harper shouldn’t be promising it to European officials without even discussing the deal with Canadians.

Tell your premier you agree with Ontario – that you oppose Harper’s multi-billion-dollar bonus for Big Pharma. We need to be thinking of ways to reduce drug costs, not making them more expensive by granting longer patents and more monopoly protections to some of the richest pharmaceutical companies in the world.


more


ACTION ALERT: Ontario opposes higher drug prices in Canada-EU trade deal – What does your province think?

 

[B00Mer]

Screw the EU - Free Trade Deal.. Canada always gets the short end of the stick with Free Trade.. softwood lumber dispute, fisheries disputes, NAFTA dispute over Ontario mine dump, grains & wheat.. the list goes on..

We don't need trade agreements, we need fair trade and tariffs to protect Canadian industry and manufacturing. FTA only benefits big business..which seems to be what runs the country now.. not the people.

 

[tay]

The planned Trade Agreement with Canada is almost finished, but still not fully known to the public. We are publishing “the full set of corresponding texts”, over 1.600 pages. While analysis is still ongoing, we already identified “highly problematic” provisions on data protection and copyright.




This is a condensed English version of the German original.

Over the course of five years, the European Commission and Canada have negotiated the free trade agreement CETA.


The “Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement” is a massive project with huge implications for citizens and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, and can be seen as “beta test” for the even bigger Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the USA. However, the public has been completely left out of the process and negotiations.




Only a few weeks ago, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs denied our Freedom of Information request for the documents, on the grounds that public knowledge of the treaty could have “adverse impacts on international relations”.


This is unacceptable. To support an informed public debate, we are publishing the full set of documents:






2014-08-05: Cover note INTA – Note For The Attention Of The INTA Committee (1 page)
2014-08-05: Cover note TPC – Note For The Attention Of The Trade Policy Committee (1 page)
2014-08-05: Consolidated text FINAL – Consolidated CETA Text (512 pages)
2014-08-05: CETA Investment and Services Annex I and II Headnotes agreed (7 pages)
2014-07-31: Joint procurement offers – Canadian Government Procurement Market Access Offer and EU Final Offer To Canada (112 pages)
2014-07-31: Product Specific Rules of Origin plus Annex on Origin Quotas (96 pages)
2014-08-04: CND FS market access offer – Canada Financial Services Offer (102 pages)
2014-08-04: EU S+I Annex I – EU: Annex 1 – Reservations for Existing Measures and Liberalisation Commitments (171 pages)
2014-08-04: EU S+I Annex II – EU: Annex 2 – Reservations for Future Measures (116 pages)
2014-08-05: CA S+I Offer Annex I – CETA Services and Investment Reservations – Annex 1 – Schedule of Canada (45 pages)
2014-08-05: CA S+I Offer Annex II – CETA Services and Investment Reservations – Annex 2 – Schedule of Canada (26 pages)
2014-08-05: PT S+I Offer Annex I – Canada Provincial and Territorial – Annex 1 – Cross Border Trade in Services and Investment (301 pages)
2014-08-05: PT S+I Offer Annex II – Canada Provincial and Territorial – Annex 2 – Cross Border Trade in Services and Investment (89 pages)
2014-08-01: Canada tariff offer – Canada’s Negative List Tariff Schedule (2 pages)
2014-08-01: EU tariff offer – EU tariff offer (10 pages)
2014-08-05: Side letters (6 pages)
2014-03-24: Canola letter EU (1 page)
2014-03-24: Red meat letter EU (2 pages)
2014-04-11: Red meat letter Canada (2 pages)

(For easy use, the complete set as a single file: 2014-08-05_CETA-complete.tgz)


The European Commission Directorate-General for Trade describes the documents like this:






more




https://netzpolitik.org/2014/compre...ishing-the-full-set-of-secret-ceta-documents/

 

[tay]

Signaling more trouble ahead for the maligned EU-Canada trade deal known as CETA, the European Commission on Tuesday "performed a startling U-turn" in announcing that national parliaments would have to ratify the pact.

As Politico's European bureau pointed out:

The need for approval from almost 40 national and regional assemblies not only threatens to scupper the Canadian deal itself, but delivers an ominous signal to British politicians who insist that the U.K. could negotiate a quick post-Brexit trade accord with the EU.

Previously, the deal was slated for a kind of "fast-track" process that would not have required nation-by-nation approval.

As such, trade campaigners celebrated Tuesday's news, saying the Commission's reversal reflects growing opposition to CETA as well as the similarly toxic TTIP between the U.S. and Europe.

"Public pressure has forced the European Commission into a humiliating climbdown as they have been prevented from denying a democratic vote on whether to accept the toxic EU-Canada trade deal, CETA," said John Hilary, executive director at the anti-poverty organization War on Want.

"Having worked with European civil society organizations, it's clear that there is a growing resistance to CETA, and that its ratification is not the cakewalk that [Canadian] Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland suggests it will be," added Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians.

The Council further explained:

The agreement will now have to be adopted by all the member states, where there is growing opposition. Romania and Bulgaria have said that they will vote against CETA if Canada doesn’t change its visa requirements. In Belgium and Germany, where regional or lower house parliaments would have a say, Wallonia has stated it would reject CETA, and the German lower house, the Bundesrat, is also likely to defeat the agreement. As well, in the Netherlands, citizens are initiating a referendum on CETA. Poland, Slovenia, and Austria have also expressed grave concerns.

Growing Opposition Forces EU into 'Humiliating Climbdown' on CETA | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

As the Canada – EU Trade Agreement faces mounting opposition in Europe, it is worth looking back at the late stages of CETA negotiations that occurred after an October 2013 announcement that a deal had been reached. That announcement did not include a release of the text, which was still the subject of months of negotiations. In fact, long after the initial announcement, there were reports that European concerns with ISDS provisions were about to derail the entire agreement. By July 2014, it was obvious that CETA was in jeopardy. In August 2014, there were more assurances from the Canadian government about an agreement, but still no text. That same month, the agreement finally did become public, but only after a German public television leaked it online.

Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act show that Canadian government officials scrambled to respond. While the official line will be familiar – “Canada does not comment on the leaks of purported negotiating texts” – internally, officials were left scrambling as the agreement leaked in real time. In fact, after learning that additional appendices and materials had leaked online, Canadian official joked that “they’re scanning as fast as they can.”

The government officials may have sought to downplay the leaks, but more interesting is the response from Industry Canada:

“Given that the CETA text has already been leaked, could we get a copy of the consolidated text with attachments (annexes, side letters etc.)?”

http://cdn.michaelgeist.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/iccetarequest.pdf

In other words, even Canadian departments responsible for specific issues within CETA were kept in the dark about the overall text. This approach confirms consistent criticisms of Canadian negotiations during CETA and TPP. Namely that there is little overall strategy and that departments are often unaware of the actual text of the agreement. When your own government officials are reliant on leaks for information about the deal, perhaps it is time to acknowledge that a change in approach is needed.


more links

Industry Canada to Foreign Affairs After CETA Leaks: Can We Get a Copy of the Text? - Michael Geist



Meanwhile in la la land.....


In the aftermath of last week's surprising Brexit vote, the European Union is even more determined to sign a free trade agreement with Canada, International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland says, and there's not the slightest "whisper" of discontent over the massive deal.

In an interview with CBC's Power & Politics, Freeland said she expects the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU to be signed before the U.K. has time to trigger Article 50, which would kick-start the country's withdrawal from the 28-nation bloc.

"I spent the weekend and Friday, a lot of time on the phone. CETA is more than alive, CETA is absolutely moving forward," she said. "My European counterparts obviously, were very surprised, very concerned about the British vote. But if anything it has strengthened their resolve about going forward with CETA."

"Canada is extremely well-positioned to lead the global pushback against that," she said. "[If] you invest in your middle class, if you maintain an equal society, a society where you don't have these vast chasms, which I think we do really remarkably well in Canada, then I think we can really pushback against it."


CETA on track for ratification before U.K. leaves EU, minister says - Politics - CBC News

 

[mentalfloss]

Capitalism.

 

[Danbones]

These "deals" and dealings are the opposite of capitalism
there is no democratic process, the corporations are DICTATING
This is out right buypartisan fascism

As far as the type of governing we elect and pay these tards to do for us it may as well be called
capsizedall ism

 

[mentalfloss]

...the corporations are DICTATING...

That is capitalism.

 

[Danbones]

Fascism
a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, a capitalist economy subject to stringent governmental controls, violent suppression of the opposition, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.
Fascism - definition of fascism by The Free Dictionary
In our case the dictators own the banks and the banking system, and the governments

What we are currently experiencing is GLOBAL Fascism, but you can have capitalism without the government:
its just called trading

 

[Blackleaf]

Does Canada have to accept free movement of people and follow EU rules in order to trade with the EU?

 

[tay]

Does Canada have to accept free movement of people and follow EU rules in order to trade with the EU?

NO. You keep your muzzies over there.......

 

[tay]

If you thought CETA was “completed” in 2013, and then again in 2014, and then again in early 2016, you’re both right and wrong. The Harper government celebrated the deal’s conclusion three times, even if it was never officially signed into international law.

The Trudeau government hopes to finally do that in October, with Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland calling CETA a progressive “gold standard” agreement, despite a long list of decidedly non-progressive provisions.

The current and former federal government also both share the belief CETA will boost Canada’s GDP by $12 billion. But an important new report from the Global Development and Environment Institute (GDEI) at Tufts University fundamentally challenges that claim. As they previously did with the TPP, the Tufts team uses the UN’s Global Policy Model to assess the likely impact of CETA on jobs, wages and inequality, which have all been ignored in previous economic impact assessments.

Their findings paint a grim picture for Canadian workers and the economy.

There have been only a handful of quantitative studies of CETA so far, all of them financed by the EC and government of Canada, and all based on computable general equilibrium (CGE) models. Those models, as Jim Stanford has thoroughly critiqued, make a number of highly unrealistic assumptions, such as full employment, lack of capital mobility and equal sharing of projected income gains.

Even with these extremely optimistic assumptions, earlier projections put the GDP gains from CETA at between 0.03% and 0.76%. But since these studies were published before the text was completed, they don’t actually reflect the scope of tariff elimination and services liberalization in the final agreement, let alone higher drug costs from intellectual property rule changes.

The new Tufts study of CETA uses an economic model that actually accounts for the likely impacts on inequality, employment, wages and more. Four things stand out from their results.

First, the study finds that CETA will transfer 1.74% of national income from labour to capital in Canada. That means any economic gains from CETA will flow overwhelmingly to owners of capital rather than to workers, which will exacerbate inequality. Notably, the projected effect of CETA on inequality is significantly worse in Canada than in any major EU country.

Second, as labour’s share of income declines, so too does employment. The study projects a net loss of 23,000 jobs in Canada in the first seven years of CETA, as exporters and other business owners pocket their gains without investing a commensurate amount in the Canadian workforce (as previous studies assumed).

Third, due to rising inequality and unemployment, the average income in Canada is projected to fall by up to €1,788 ($2,650) by 2023. Again, it will be workers who feel the brunt of income losses, not the owners of capital.

Finally, due to job losses and wage cuts in a period of already stagnating incomes, the projected effect of CETA on overall economic activity is far more negative than previous studies have suggested. According to the new study, Canada will actually experience slower GDP growth under CETA than it would outside of the agreement. The cumulative loss of income in Canada over the first seven years of the agreement is projected to be 0.96% of GDP. Basically, if workers have less money to spend, the economy shrinks.

more

Canada-EU trade deal will result in job losses, lower wages, and worse inequality - Behind the Numbers

 

[Danbones]

Geez pay for your own damn party
ya MULTINATIONAL freeloaders

multis blaming the nationalities they wish to supercede for their own greed
meh!

That is capitalism.

No, in capitalism
the market dictates...
jeez

 

[taxslave]

If you thought CETA was “completed” in 2013, and then again in 2014, and then again in early 2016, you’re both right and wrong. The Harper government celebrated the deal’s conclusion three times, even if it was never officially signed into international law.

The Trudeau government hopes to finally do that in October, with Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland calling CETA a progressive “gold standard” agreement, despite a long list of decidedly non-progressive provisions.

The current and former federal government also both share the belief CETA will boost Canada’s GDP by $12 billion. But an important new report from the Global Development and Environment Institute (GDEI) at Tufts University fundamentally challenges that claim. As they previously did with the TPP, the Tufts team uses the UN’s Global Policy Model to assess the likely impact of CETA on jobs, wages and inequality, which have all been ignored in previous economic impact assessments.

Their findings paint a grim picture for Canadian workers and the economy.

There have been only a handful of quantitative studies of CETA so far, all of them financed by the EC and government of Canada, and all based on computable general equilibrium (CGE) models. Those models, as Jim Stanford has thoroughly critiqued, make a number of highly unrealistic assumptions, such as full employment, lack of capital mobility and equal sharing of projected income gains.

Even with these extremely optimistic assumptions, earlier projections put the GDP gains from CETA at between 0.03% and 0.76%. But since these studies were published before the text was completed, they don’t actually reflect the scope of tariff elimination and services liberalization in the final agreement, let alone higher drug costs from intellectual property rule changes.

The new Tufts study of CETA uses an economic model that actually accounts for the likely impacts on inequality, employment, wages and more. Four things stand out from their results.

First, the study finds that CETA will transfer 1.74% of national income from labour to capital in Canada. That means any economic gains from CETA will flow overwhelmingly to owners of capital rather than to workers, which will exacerbate inequality. Notably, the projected effect of CETA on inequality is significantly worse in Canada than in any major EU country.

Second, as labour’s share of income declines, so too does employment. The study projects a net loss of 23,000 jobs in Canada in the first seven years of CETA, as exporters and other business owners pocket their gains without investing a commensurate amount in the Canadian workforce (as previous studies assumed).

Third, due to rising inequality and unemployment, the average income in Canada is projected to fall by up to €1,788 ($2,650) by 2023. Again, it will be workers who feel the brunt of income losses, not the owners of capital.

Finally, due to job losses and wage cuts in a period of already stagnating incomes, the projected effect of CETA on overall economic activity is far more negative than previous studies have suggested. According to the new study, Canada will actually experience slower GDP growth under CETA than it would outside of the agreement. The cumulative loss of income in Canada over the first seven years of the agreement is projected to be 0.96% of GDP. Basically, if workers have less money to spend, the economy shrinks.

more

Canada-EU trade deal will result in job losses, lower wages, and worse inequality - Behind the Numbers

Should have looked at where your source got the information. It was a "study" done by Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives. A far left think tank. Hardly a reliable source of information on economics.

 

[Danbones]

I think from what I have seen that the conservatives are NOT gonna like footing the bill for this either...
once they start getting them

but that might be to late then

 

[Machjo]

Does Canada have to accept free movement of people and follow EU rules in order to trade with the EU?

No. But we also won't be enjoying anywhere near the access to the EU markets than you do.

In addition to that, we depend on the EU market far less than you do since we're so far away geographically. We depend more on the US. So while we can play hardball in trade negotiations with the EU, we need to play a little nicer with the US.

NO. You keep your muzzies over there.......

What's wrong with Muslims? More open borders has its advantages in terms of access to a larger labour pool.