Dear editor,
Are you concerned about the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) the Harper Conservatives are set to ratify with China?
Author Andrew Nikiforuk warns us, "Appallingly, the treaty would give Sinopec, one of the big Chinese backers of the Northern Gateway pipeline, the right to sue the government of British Columbia if it blocks the project. ...Barring a revolt within Harper's own party, the trade deal automatically becomes law on Nov. 1."
Over and over we are told that Canada came through the most recent financial crisis relatively unscathed because the Conservatives are such good managers of the economy. But in 2002 Harper lambasted the previous Liberal government for holding firm on bank regulations - some of the very regulations that protected Canada in 2008.
We must stop undermining Canadian sovereignty and weakening the regulations that protect environmental and consumer health. Indeed, the sell-out policies of the Harper government undermine international peace by concentrating power and wealth into the hands of elites in Canada and abroad.
That is why the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace is asking all MPs to reject the Canada-China FIPA now.
Jan Slakov
National board of the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
Salt Spring Island, BC