A remote Nova Scotian strip of land is symbolic of upcoming NAFTA fight
By ANA SWANSON The New York Times
Fri., Oct. 20, 2017
DIGBY NECK, N.S.—This far-flung peninsula in the North Atlantic seems an unlikely place for an international trade dispute. But a U.S. company’s scuttled plans to build a quarry here have turned these quiet fishing grounds into a case study of the kind of thorny disputes that threaten to derail the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Digby Neck, a remote strip of volcanic rock with a population of about 2,000, was chosen by a Delaware company, Bilcon, to be the site of a large stone quarry in 2002. Lured here by the government of Nova Scotia, Bilcon planned to blast the basalt rock that lines the shore, then load 40,000 tons of it onto a ship that would leave the Bay of Fundy each week and head to New Jersey, where it would be mixed into concrete for roads, bridges and other projects.
The quarry was expected to operate for 50 years and create about 30 local jobs in Digby Neck. Instead, the project was killed by the Canadian government after a years-long review concluded that it would damage the environment. But Bilcon, which had invested significant sums trying to get the project underway, seized on an obscure NAFTA provision allowing foreign companies to sue governments for unfair treatment.
https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/10/20/a-remote-nova-scotian-strip-of-land-is-symbolic-of-upcoming-nafta-fight.html
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