A Little Juxtaposition on Trade

Canada isn't the only country the EU has been negotiating a comprehensive trade and investment pact with, parallel talks have been ongoing with India on a remarkably similar deal. So I've found it interesting to look in on those discussions from time to time for comparison purposes. It seems there is one significant difference  between the two and that is that India is driving a much harder bargain with the EU than our government has.

EU trade talks with India have stalled as India attempts to protect it's auto sector and is reluctant to cede on EU demands for increased drug patents and access to government procurement, all of which Harper and his cabal seem to have no concerns about giving away in their zeal to see CETA come to fruition. Granted India is in a stronger position than we are as the EU needs and covets access to the Indian market,as for Canada not so much.

In fact Harper is all too willing to give the EU virtually everything they want, which is of no surprise as our government is among the most rabid of neoliberals on the planet. So in the end it appears there will either be no EU/India deal or one that is more favourable to India than the one Canadians will be stuck with.

The Brits Are Not Amused: A Tale of Fibs & Desperation

The Brits are not amused with us at the moment, In a meeting with the British Foreign Office, Canada’s trade commissioner in the UK, Sushma Gera has reportedly informed UK officials that the Harper government is considering filing a challenge with the WTO over the EU's Fuel Quality Directive claiming support from Spain, Estonia and Poland . Not surprising or controversial as the EU has filed a similar challenge over Ontario's Green Energy Initiative.

 What does have the UK and the state of  California upset is that she lied to the UK officials about the status of California's attempts to implement a comparable low carbon fuel standard (LCFS), by saying they had collapsed.  “the US consideration of similar measures had just failed, as it was ‘unimplementable.’

 This prompted California's Air Resources Board to fire off a letter to EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard stating that LCFS was far from dead and in fact continues to roll out.


“We believe that a robust greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation to address transportation fuels like LCFS must account for differences in the carbon intensity of crudes,” the letter says.
“The principle of accounting for the lifecycle GHG emissions of transportation fuels, including those associated with the production and transportation of crude oil continues to be an important feature of the LCFS,” it says.

Needless to say the British are not amused and feel frustrated that what they see as a routine meeting to set the backdrop for a Cabinet decision is causing public relations blowback for the Foreign Office.

 Also discussed at this meeting was that Canada is refusing to link the tar sands to the ongoing CETA talks making just about the only sector not on the table. With water, increased drug patent protection and local procurement on the agenda it is beyond sad that the only sector they aren't willing to sell out to the EU is the tar sands. In fact they are so focused on promoting the tar sands in Europe that between September 2009 and July 2011, Canadian government and oil industry representatives organised more than 110 lobby events in Brussels.

That they are prepared to lie to our friends and allies and put at risk valuable relationships in their zeal to protect the tar sands is a sad testament to how far this government will go to see it's agenda come to fruition