Preface
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Outline of how Van Harten will approach his analysis of the FIPA and what is wrong with the deal for both Canadians and Chinese people
Gus Van Harten
6
2015
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A Prime Minister bends the knee
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How the Harper Governments association with China lef to the FIPA which favours China’s agenda and disregards economc and democratic priorities of Canada
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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Protecting Canadian investors, with a catch
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The FIPA does provide stronger protection for Canadian investors in China but here Van Harten outlines why they are not strong protections
Gus Van Harten
6
2015
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China can keep its discriminatory laws
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Outlines the lopsided nature of the FIPA regarding the fact that China has more law in place against foreign investment than Canada does.
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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Canada plays the capital-importing loser
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Canadians assume more of the risk and constraints because Chinese companies own more in Canada, making Canada the capitalimporter in the relationship. By implication, the FIPA’s negative …
Gus Van Harten
12
2015
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The magical FIPA: attracting Chinese investment without any environmental impact!
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It is especially telling that the government, in its environmental assessment of the China FIPA, discounted entirely the possibility of environmental impacts of new Chinese investment in Canada. …
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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Market access for Chinese investors, but
not for Canadian investors
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Chinese companies have a general right in the FIPA to buy into Canada’s economy, which is then subject to limitations in some cases. On the other hand, Canadian investors have no general …
Gus Van Harten
11
2015
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Faith in the Investment Canada Act
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It is true that the FIPA has a carve-out for the Investment Canada Act. This carve-out lets the federal government block specific Chinese takeovers of Canadian companies. On the other hand, the …
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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Possible conflicts over Canadian jobs,
health, and the environment
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not all Chinese investment in Canada is objectionable. Yet, for many Canadians, it seems possible that Chinese investment will undermine their priorities when it comes to jobs, health, or the …
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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The special status of Chinese investors
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under the FIPA, Chinese investors now have a power to sidestep Canada’s legal system by starting a lawsuit under the FIPA. Or, they can go to the courts in Canada to attempt to strike down …
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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Does Canada’s rule of law protect us?
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By analyzing the number of investment lawsuits by country Canada has been a much more inviting target for foreign investor lawsuits, regardless of the rule of law. The FIPA promoters’ …
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7
2015
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The explosion of foreign investor lawsuits
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overview of the history of foreign investor lawsuits and how FIPA has accelerated them
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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For-profit arbitrators instead of judges
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all of the decisions of investor-state arbitrators are open to doubt because of the absence of judicial safeguards: secure tenure, a set salary, an objective method of case assignment, and so on. …
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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No standing for Canadians
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brought to you by the FIPA. Arbitrators can make decisions that affect Canadians, without ever hearing from them.
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6
2015
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Secret deals with China
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Another troubling thing about the China FIPA is its special allowances for secret lawsuits and secret settlements. In this chapter, I outline this problem and why it is so serious under the FIPA.
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8
2015
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What do the treaties prohibit?
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The expansions of the treaties’ vague protections for foreign investors have a corresponding impact on voters who want a government to be able to change its policies, or on taxpayers who …
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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The price tag for democracy
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Chinese investors can use the FIPA to challenge anything that a legislature or government or court in Canada does. They may not win, but the ability to sue in this way is a powerful tool by …
Gus Van Harten
7
2015
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Settlements of lawsuits, known and unknown
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Analyzes some murky NAFTA settlements to demonstrate why we should be wary of FIPA
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8
2015
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An example of regulatory chill
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Opponents of investor-state arbitration have long warned that it may lead to so-called “regulatory chill,” by creating financial risks for countries that deter responsible regulation …
Gus Van Harten
10
2015
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Outcomes of lawsuits
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it is next to impossible to evaluate what is happening in settlements. Even if we know that a settlement exists, its terms are rarely public. The terms should be public, at least in a democratic …
Gus Van Harten
8
2015
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What if it was a judicial process?
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One of the key flaws in investor-state arbitration is that it leads to final decisions about issues of great importance for countries (and foreign investors too), but does not use a judicial …
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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The roller coaster continues
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Awards of compensation for foreign investors have risen to billions of dollars, and now tens of billions. Lawyers have developed new and creative arguments for compensating foreign investors, …
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6
2015
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The FIPA and the courts
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This example shows how investor-state arbitrators can review a country’s highest courts, and order its people to pay for whatever the arbitrators order as a protection for foreign …
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14
2015
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The legal challenge to the FIPA, part one
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The public opposition to the China FIPA included thousands of people who took steps to support an effort by the Hupacasath First Nation, an aboriginal community on Vancouver Island in British …
Gus Van Harten
11
2015
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The legal challenge to the FIPA, part two
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Through focusing on the arguments of the government’s foreign investment expert, J. Christopher Thomas, and how the courts favoured his opinions Van Harten outlines how the legal challenge …
Gus Van Harten
10
2015
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A reply to the charges of bias, part one
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Van Harten outline how his expert witness my opinion was apparently doomed from the start because I had previously expressed views about investor-state arbitration and the FIPA.
Gus Van Harten
10
2015
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A reply to the charges of bias, part two
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after Chief Justice Crampton dismissed my opinion in his judgment, I took more of an interest in him. I lay out aspects of his background here, not to suggest that Chief Justice Crampton was …
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13
2015
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The FIPA media blitz
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Analyzes the media’s poorly informed spin on the FIPA and how this fueled government led propaganda
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11
2015
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Andrew Coyne, part one
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Analyzes arguments made by Andrew Coyne in his role as a columnist for the National Post
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6
2015
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John Ivison
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Looks at John Ivison’s attack on NDP leader Thomas Mulcair in relation to the FIPA
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7
2015
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Andrew Coyne, part two
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Analyzes arguments made by Andrew Coyne in his role as a columnist for the National Post
Gus Van Harten
11
2015
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Milos Barutciski and Matthew Kronby,
part one
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Another group that emerged to defend the FIPA after it became controversial was lawyers who work in investor-state arbitration
Gus Van Harten
11
2015
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Milos Barutciski and Matthew Kronby,
part two
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The key claim in Barutciski and Kronby’s Globe and Mail article was that the FIPA would benefit Canada. When they made this claim, I suggest that Barutciski and Kronby should have …
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7
2015
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The trade specialists
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My point is that the federal government should have put the competing claims about the FIPA to the test, in public, by organizing a thorough and independent review. It should have brought in …
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6
2015
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Lawrence Herman
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Analyzes Lawrence Herman’s opinions on the FIPA
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15
2015
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A left-wing hobby horse?
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I highlight in this short chapter some perspectives on investor-state arbitration that are critical and decidedly not left-wing.
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5
2015
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The government’s spin, part one
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How did the Harper Government spin the FIPA? It would take another book to count all the ways. I discuss four examples in the next few chapters. The first example is the prime minister’s …
Gus Van Harten
11
2015
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The government’s spin, part two
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Despite the Conservatives’ efforts to limit debate, other politicians were able to use the process at the House of Commons trade committee, and elsewhere in Parliament, to put important …
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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The government’s spin, part three
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My last example of the government’s misleading responses to concerns about the FIPA comes from the legal challenge brought by the Hupacasath First Nation.
Gus Van Harten
11
2015
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Laura Dawson’s lawn darts
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Analyzes an interview with Laura Dawson about her opinion on the FIPA. He concludes the interview worked as a sort of damage control on the part of the governement
Gus Van Harten
14
2015
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The strange case of Stephen Gordon
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Analyzes an article written in Maclean’s Magazine by Stephen Gordan which presents a poorly informed spin on the FIPA
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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“The largest energy project in the entire world”
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Analyzes reports about why the Harper Government would support this plan tieing their support to the oil sands and finds the government seemed anxious for China to support Canada’s resource …
Gus Van Harten
12
2015
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Other explanations for a lopsided deal
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analyzes other opinions about why the government would accept such a lopsided arrangement with China
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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Thirty-one years and a hysterical scenario
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If one accepts climate change as a pressing concern, it is hard to imagine a more epic fail than the FIPA. For years, the Harper Government told Canadians it would not act on climate change until …
Gus Van Harten
9
2015
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Channelling hope
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In this final chapter, I offer a few hopeful and specific ideas about what governments could be pushed to do to protect Canadians in the era of the FIPA and investor-state arbitration.
Gus Van Harten
8
2015
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