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In reply to the discussion: The Final Leaked TPP Text is All That We Feared [View all]eridani
(51,907 posts)I just can't figure people on a Democratic board defending this bullshit.
Thanks to an ISDS provision in a past trade agreement, a mining company didnt have to go to a Canadian court to challenge the permit decision they went right to a special ISDS panel of corporate lawyers. Last month, the international panel ruled in favor of the mining company, and the decision cannot be challenged in Canadian courts.
Now the Canadian taxpayers may be on the hook for up to $300 million in damages to the mining company all because their government had the gall to stand up for its environment and the economic livelihood of its local fishermen.
ISDS isnt a one-time, hypothetical problem weve seen it in past trade agreements. Just in the past few years:
A French company sued Egypt after Egypt raised its minimum wage.
A Swedish company sued Germany because Germany wanted to phase out nuclear power for safety reasons.
A Dutch company sued the Czech Republic because the Czech Republic didn't bail out a bank that the Dutch company partially owned.
Philip Morris is using ISDS right now to try to stop countries like Australia and Uruguay from implementing new rules that are intended to cut smoking rates because the new laws might eat into the tobacco giants profits.
Anyone who thinks any of this bullshit is a good thing is no progressive.