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Democracy in doubt

Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) is a sellout

I am most concerned about the deterioration of democracy in Canada.

Firstly our prime minister is becoming more and more dictatorial. He prorogues Parliament whenever he is in political difficulty. He had one mammoth bill passed without proper debate and I’m sure that we would find that the majority of the Conservative members of Parliament, if properly questioned by the media, would be unable to claim that they were fully cognisant of all the legislation that was buried in the bill. And even in light of public concern over the first bill, his intention is to do the same with a second mammoth bill.

However, my greatest concern is that the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA), signed on Sept. 8, 2012, is a sellout. I believe it should never have happened.

Under FIPA, our natural resources are in danger of being plundered and I have to ask, are Canadians in favour of this?

Shareholders have only one concern, and that is to make money. This has been demonstrated in the sell-off of International Nickel in Sudbury Ont. to Vale Canada Limited which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. The same applies to similar mining operation sell-offs. An exception is Potash Corporation, in which case the premier of Saskatchewan dug in his heels and faced down the prime minister to prevent a hostile takeover, see the embedded link: http://www.jonesday.com/potash-corporation-of-saskatchewan-successfully-defends-historic-431-billion-hostile-takeover-bid/.

All of the above are a reflection of one man’s vision of how the country should be run and are in blatant disregard of the democratic process. I believe the prime minister’s majority in Parliament, and the control he exercises over his party members, has turned our federal government into a dictatorship.

I am particularly disappointed in our elected member who, it appears, is almost entirely reduced to disseminating Conservative party propaganda.

John Gullick

 

Penticton