>Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 12:15:17 -0300 (ADT) >From: Michael Gurstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [socdev] MAI Public Hearings: British Columbia (fwd) >To: Canadian futures <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Precedence: Bulk >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 13:43:24 -0700 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: Special Committee on the MAI -- Public Hearings > >BC Legislative Assembly's >Special Committee on the MAI > >Highlights >Day 1 of Public Hearings >September 29, 1998 > > >British Columbia's public hearings on the MAI got off to a lively start >in Vancouver today. > >Committee Chairperson Joan Smallwood, MLA opened proceedings and >welcomed the participants giving give expert testimony during the first >phase of BC's public hearings on the draft MAI. Main topics for >consideration were: > >� Overview of the MAI >� Environmental Protection >� Culture > > >Overview >In the first session, Toronto-based international trade and investment >lawyer Barry Appleton gave a slide presentation providing a broad >overview of the agreement's provisions. Highly critical of the draft >MAI, Appleton argued that the agreement, if passed, would go well beyond >NAFTA, would cover all sub-national governments, and would undermine the >regulatory ability of provincial, regional, local and First Nations >governments in many important areas. > >Vancouver trade and investment lawyer Jeffrey Thomas squared off against >Appleton, arguing that the agreement was "evolutionary" rather than >"revolutionary" and did not differ markedly from other bilateral and >multilateral investment agreements the Canadians government has already >signed. > >Committee members' questions focused on the MAI's expropriation and >compensation provisions, on-going NAFTA investor-state disputes, and on >the secrecy surrounding these disputes and MAI negotiations. The >authority of the Canadian government to force compliance provincial and >other sub-national governments also attracted significant attention. > >Environmental Protection > >The Canadian Environmental Law Association's Michelle Swenarchuk pointed >out that the MAI contained no meaningful exemption for existing >environmental agreements such as the Montreal Protocol. She argued that >many types of environmental regulation would be potentially affected by >the MAI, including environmental assessment legislation for forestry and >waste disposal siting, and that regulation of toxics would be "rendered >more difficult". She emphasized that preamble language purporting to >offer some measure of environmental protection was ineffectual and that >even existing GATT protections had been made "useless". She offered >several suggestions on how British Columbia could act to protect its >vital interests. > >An afternoon panel focused on the impact of the MAI on environmental >protection. It consisted of David Boyd, Sierra Legal Defense Fund >Victor Menotti, International Forum on Globalization (San Francisco) > >Dr. Peter Carter, Canadian Association for Physicians for the >Environment, and Cynthia Callard, Physicians for a Smoke-free Canada (Ottawa). > >Issues receiving particular attention included: MAI-Free Zones in the >United States, impact on domestic and international forestry practices, >the primacy of international trade over the environment, and the >inadequacy of environmental side agreements. It was also asserted in >considerable detail that the MAI would severely constrain governments' >ability to protect public health by controlling tobacco advertising and >use. > >Culture > >Two evening panels considered the potential impact of the MAI on >culture. > >Ellie O'Day (Vancouver Cultural Alliance), Garry Neil (Neil Craig >Associates), and RH Thompson (Actor) described the significance of >Canada's culture, the lack of meaningful protection for indigenous >cultural expression under the FTA and the NAFTA, and the expansion of >the threat under the MAI. Garry Neil analysed in detail the hazards of >relying on a country-specific reservation to ensure a space for cultural >expression and policies. He argued that an effective carve-out for >culture must include a comprehensive definition of culture, be >self-defining, apply to all aspects of the MAI, be adjudicated by >cultural experts, and not be subject to �standstill' or �rollback'. > >The evening concluded with a second panel of Daryl Duke, Mavor Moore and >Bob Tyrrell. All stressed how the MAI threatened essential cultural >self-expression of Canadians. They pointed out how the international >success of Canadian artists and cultural producers was firmly grounded >in the network of policies that support and promote Canadian culture. >Bob Tyrrell pointed to the growing success of BC book publishers within >Canada and abroad and commented how ludicrous it would be to jeopardize >these policies when they are now bearing fruit. Daryl Duke and Mavor >Moore gave learned, impassioned and witty presentation, parts of which >will soon be available on video. > > >Memorable Quotes from Today: > >"My clients like these agreements" > > International trade lawyer Barry Appleton (10:58) > >The purpose of the MAI is to provide "modal neutrality". > > International trade lawyer Jeffrey Thomas (10:24) > >[Under these investment agreements], if the government can't ban MMT >>from gasoline, how could it ban nicotine from tobacco products?" > > Cynthia Callard, Physicians for a Smoke-free Canada (15:01) > >(With respect to federal government assurances about protecting Canadian >culture under the MAI) "My comfort in those assurances is minimal." > > Garry Neil, Neil Craig Associates (19:33) > >"Even cabbages don't grow on their own, and we are talking here about >growing a people." > > Mavor Moore > >What's coming up? > >On September 30, Canada's Chief MAI Negotiator William Dymond appears to >explain the federal government's negotiating objectives. > >Topics: Canadian Negotiating Objectives; British Columbia Concerns > Origins and Aims of the MAI: Canadian and International >Perspectives > Elements of the MAI: Expropriation and Performance Requirements > Elements of the MAI: Investor-State Dispute Settlement > >Other confirmed presenters: >Noel Schacter, BC Ministry of Employment and Investment >Susan George, Transnational Institute > >Hon. Paul Hellyer, Canada Action Party >Tony Clarke, Polaris Institute >Daniel Schwanen, C.D. Howe Institute >Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives >Steven Shrybman, West Coast Environmental Law >Milos Barutciski, Davis, Ward and Beck >John Ranta, Union of BC Municipalities >Robert Paterson, University of British Columbia >Barry Appleton, Appleton and Associates. > >You are Invited! >Members of the public are welcome to attend the public hearings all this >week starting at 9 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver. >Expert witness hearings continue in Victoria on October 8, 9 and 14, 15. > >Can't manage to attend? > >Verbatim transcripts of the entire proceedings of the public hearings >will be available soon on the Committee's website at: > >http://www.legis.gov.bc.ca/cmt >....................... > > >Bob Olsen Toronto [EMAIL PROTECTED] (:-) >
