A lot of you assume Canada's government is happy about the terms of NAFTA. Go read some of the Chapter 11 clause, and the disputes that are rising as an outcome.
In a capitalistic society you'd have to expect the government is going to do favours for big business, however a lot of what is going on makes one think that maybe this time they've gone too far.
NAFTA is great for the economy in a lot of ways, but when Obama comes out and says he wants to restructure it, it's to take a portion of the power away from corporations.
Here a link:
OTTAWA—The number of challenges launched by foreign investors against Canada under NAFTA’s controversial investment rules continues to grow, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The study looks at the six new NAFTA cases filed against Canada over the last two years and finds the targeting of environmental protection and natural resource management regulations particularly disturbing. Two recent actions include a challenge by multinational oil giant Exxon-Mobil to Newfoundland’s local economic development policies and another over the province of Ontario’s decision to halt a controversial project to dispose of Toronto’s landfill in a man-made lake.
“Unfortunately, NAFTA’s investment rules are so broadly worded that these aggressive claims might well succeed,” remarked Scott Sinclair, the report’s author. “At a time when Canadians are more concerned than ever about protecting the environment, this is simply unacceptable.”
As of January 1 2008, there have been 49 investor-state claims -18 against Canada, 14 against the U.S. and 17 against Mexico. Nearly half of these claims have involved investor challenges to how governments protect the environment or manage natural resources.
Tribunals have awarded financial damages to the complaining investors in two of three decided claims against Canada. Canada also settled another claim out of court by agreeing to pay the investor damages and repealing the challenged measure. Mexico recently lost its third NAFTA investment case. By contrast, in the four decided cases against the U.S. to date, the investors’ claims have been dismissed.
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/New...fm?pa=BB736455
List of past and current disputes. I think anyone will find a few of the claims (and dollar amounts) alarming.
These aren't cases where the government is trying to bully businesses. One dispute is about a Canadian based gasoline additive company suing California for removing their additive from gas at the pumps there, even though the additive was found to contaminate surface water.