OTTAWA, ONTARIO - International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew has flip-flopped again on the issue of allowing corporations sue governments under investment provisions of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The Federal Government responded this week to a Parliamentary Committee report on the FTAA by stating that "investment rules contained in NAFTA's Chapter 11 has worked relatively well".

This is the latest of a series of flip-flops on the issue by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT): In a Globe and Mail article on December 13, 2000, Minister Pettigrew stated that he would not sign a deal that would include a Chapter 11 equivalent. That stance was repeated in various articles published in April 2001, around the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.

However, a Reuters article, dated October 24, 2002, reported that "Canada is backing plans to let companies sue countries in a proposed Americas-wide free trade", according to a senior Canadian official. The response issued yesterday, to a Parliamentary Committee recommending that Chapter 11 provisions should not be pursued in a negotiated FTAA, is most vague on this issue.

"The inclusion of investor-state provisions in the FTAA is one of the most critical aspects of the negotiations, but it is impossible to get a straight answer from Minister Pettigrew", says David Robbins, Trade Campaigner for the 100,000-member Council of Canadians. "One morning, he gets up and is opposed, the next day, he's adamantly in favour. The negotiations are under way and Canadians deserve a straight answer: is Canada pushing the right of companies to sue governments?"

The United States position on investor-state provisions, outlined in the Trade Promotion Authority Act (known as "fast-track"), explicitly demands the "reducing or eliminating exceptions to the principle of national treatment". This means the U.S. are actively seeking the elimination of such exemptions as health care, education and culture under an expanded FTAA, making Canada's position even more important.

David Robbins is in Quito this week to monitor the negotiations taking place at the 7th FTAA Ministerial Meeting on November 1st and 2nd.

-30-