Harper ready to sign TPP and throw Tory base under the bus

[tay]

The Canadian Prime Minister said he’d only sign the secretive Trans Pacific Partnership if it had safeguards for Canada’s farmers, but now that it’s clear that he hasn’t got a hope in hell of being re-elected, he’s ready to sign TPP and damn the farmers.

TPP is being negotiated in unprecedented secrecy. Members of Parliament and the US Congress were not allowed to see the treaty drafts as they progressed, and when the US Trade Rep finally deigned to let Congress have a peek, he threatened to put them in jail if they discussed the treaty’s contents in public.


However, lobbyists for the world’s largest multinationals were welcomed into the meetings, and even got to help draft it.


The Canadian Tories are foundering. Alberta, a Tory stronghold, just elected its first non-Tory government in 40+ years, voting in the socialist/social democratic NDP. Key members of the Tory frontbench have announced that they will not run in the next election, fearing life in opposition will not be so cushy as it was in government. And Stephen Harper is ready to establish his “legacy” by selling Canada’s farmers out to multinational agribusiness, which will be able to sue Canada to repeal its labour, agriculture and environmental laws in order to ensure their maximum profitability.


But in Canada, TPP will be no easy sell. Although there will doubtless be a phase-in period, along with compensation for affected farmers, signing means the end of supply management, which for decades has protected the dairy and poultry industries.



Those farmers will be justifiably angry at the Conservatives. Mr. Harper promised he could get a TPP deal while still protecting supply management. In the end, he decided to sacrifice the interests of the farmers to the greater interest.


Rural seats in Southwestern and Eastern Ontario that were once considered safe will now be very much in play.

The Conservatives will fight hard to hold those seats regardless, stressing the crucial link between rural values and Conservative priorities. And Mr. Harper will trumpet the accord in places such as the Greater Toronto Area and B.C.’s Lower Mainland.




Harper poised to sign Pacific Rim trade deal, putting safe rural ridings in play - The Globe and Mail

 

[darkbeaver]

They belong under a bus, this sloping forehead crew allowed the Denominational Fascist Lizard to rise to power in the first place.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Probably be good for 'em.

 

[tay]

The Conservatives are anxiously hoping to sign off on a massive free-trade deal before kicking off an election campaign that’s expected to start as early as Sunday.


The federal government is at the negotiating table in Hawaii, where Trans-Pacific Partnership talks are reportedly in their final stages for a deal that could have political implications during the election campaign.


With voting day set for Oct. 19, the governing Tories want to launch the campaign with the deal in hand — an agreement they could brandish as evidence of their economic stewardship.


The partnership, a pact between 12 countries including Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Japan, is poised to become the biggest trade deal in history once ratified. The government says the countries represent some 800 million people with a combined gross domestic product of roughly 40 per cent of the world’s economy.


Just as a deal could be a boon to Conservative campaign fortunes, however, a delay could cause them headaches. If talks stretch past the start of the campaign, experts say they could prove politically delicate.


In particular, Canada is under pressure from other countries to lower the high tariffs that currently protect domestic producers of eggs, milk, cheese and poultry from foreign competition under a system known as supply management.


In an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg, Prime Minister Stephen Harper insisted the government will defend the interests of every Canadian industry “as best we can.”


Harper also said the negotiations were “well advanced” and that Canada “cannot be left out of this kind of trade arrangement.”


If Trans-Pacific Partnership talks do spill into the campaign window, officially known as the writ period,thorny political issues would become that much more sensitive, said Ottawa trade consultant Adam Taylor.


“I don’t think Canada will walk away from the TPP table to save its furniture and bacon on the election hustings,” said Taylor, a former senior adviser to Trade Minister Ed Fast and now a director at a firm called Ensight.


“But I think the politics of it is much more in your face.”


Once the campaign begins, the government will shift into caretaking mode. That would allow it to continue negotiations, but likely prevent it from binding a future government or signing a new international commitment, said a former high-ranking civil servant who spoke on condition of anonymity.


Robert Wolfe, a Queen’s University professor and former government trade negotiator, said representatives from the other countries at the bargaining table are aware of Canada’s election schedule.


“So, most of them are of the view that they’d better wrap stuff up this week because after that they may simply not be able to get a decision out of Canada,” said Wolfe.


“During an election campaign, there is no way that a government is going to announce something that would be seen as politically harmful unless it absolutely has to.”




more




Harper government hopes TPP deal is signed before election - Macleans.ca

 

[darkbeaver]

Harper better hope that deal goes nowhere or I'll donate every thing in my piggy bank to see the facist basterd in prison for treason.

 

[Cliffy]

Harper better hope that deal goes nowhere or I'll donate every thing in my piggy bank to see the facist basterd in prison for treason.

I see you put your time away from CC to good use and have come back refreshed and renewed. Giver sh!t.

 

[Cliffy]

 

[taxslave]

That from the freeloaders union?

 

[tay]

So MacAulay hasn't read the agreement yet but has already determined it is something he would support? Seems the Libs aren't friends with the farmers either........


Canada's new agriculture minister said on Tuesday he is likely to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiated by the previous government, and is inclined to retaliate against the United States over a longstanding meat-labeling dispute.

The Liberal government elected last month, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has not taken a firm position yet on whether it will support TPP, which groups 12 Pacific rim countries.

"I suspect when I evaluate the whole thing, it will be something I support," said Lawrence MacAulay, 69, a former potato and dairy farmer from the Atlantic province of Prince Edward Island.

"I see nothing today that would make me not want to support the whole package," he told Reuters in an interview.

MacAulay said a C$4.3 billion ($3.24 billion) compensation package offered by the previous government to dairy, poultry and egg farmers who will face more import competition looks fair.

TPP faces a tough battle to win support in the U.S. Congress as a key senator said on Friday the Obama administration may have to renegotiate parts of the deal.

MacAulay also said Ottawa is prepared to retaliate against the United States over a meat-labeling dispute, although he conceded that Canada's International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland is in charge of that file.

Canada and Mexico won a World Trade Organization ruling in 2012 that said U.S. regulations illegally discriminated against imported meat.

"You cannot have a deal with foreign countries and not have them comply with the rules and then just continue on," MacAulay said.

"You have to take measures. Do we want to? No. But if we have to, I suspect we will."

Even so, MacAulay said he spoke on Monday with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and is hopeful that Washington will comply with the WTO's ruling. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had no immediate comment.

A WTO arbitration panel is expected to decide on an authorized amount for retaliation before the end of the year. Canada has requested authorization for tariffs on more than C$3.1 billion per year of U.S. exports.

Under the previous Conservative government, Canada identified a list of potential targets for steep tariffs, including U.S. beef, pork, wine, cherries and mattresses. MacAulay said the government has yet to decide which products to target.

Canada farm minister favors TPP deal, poised for trade fight with U.S | Canada | Reuters

 

[taxslave]

Mattresses for sure. Because they are so vital to farming.

 

[tay]

A $4.3-billion compensation package negotiated with Canadian farm groups before the TPP trade agreement was announced appears to be in jeopardy.

The deal was negotiated under Stephen Harper's former Conservative government, who called it "cabinet approved" last October.

But shortly after ministers signed off last July — amid the heat of the 12-country Pacific Rim trade talks — an election was called. The $4.3 billion was never approved by Treasury Board.

The new Liberal government's spending estimates and first budget don't include even a portion of the previous pledge.

International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland signed the TPP in February but the Trudeau government is undecided about its ratification. In the meantime, extensive consultations are underway.

"We're going to first wait and see if we ratify the agreement," Freeland's parliamentary secretary, David Lametti, said at a consultation session in New Brunswick last week. "If we do make a decision to ratify, then we will sit down with these groups."

But the compensation package announced last October wasn't only for the TPP. The measures also intended to mitigate potential losses from the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA).

The Liberals are keen on CETA, saying they hope the deal will be ratified later this year — which is why farmers' eyebrows shot up when last month's budget offered nothing.

Pressed to explain, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay's office told CBC News that "since CETA is not yet ratified, it would have been premature to have compensation in the budget … Discussions on compensation will be part of the process to ratify CETA."

The farm package announced last October was intended to help Canada's supply-managed sectors cope with competition from new imports once new deals take hold.

Five commodities in Canada — dairy, eggs, chicken, turkey and broiler hatching eggs — have marketing-board systems that use strict production quotas and import controls to stabilize domestic prices.

CETA would give European cheeses (both fine cheeses and industrial grades) an additional two per cent of the Canadian market.
The TPP affects all five commodities, allowing foreign imports access that ranges from 1.5 per cent of the domestic market for broiler hatching eggs, to nearly four per cent of the Canadian dairy market, according to industry calculations.

The shares might sound small, but they're disruptive to a system built on stability.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tpp-ceta-supply-management-package-1.3514990

 

[taxslave]

Ah yes the supply management system that guarantees millions for inefficient producers and high prices for consumers.