To The Editor:
Lorne Eckersley’s column, “This is the Life: Thanks, democracy — it's been a slice,” may be one of the most important and portentous of his career. While the public has been distracted by the Senate scandal and the ridiculous mayor of Toronto, our sovereignty is being given away freely and gleefully by our present government. The media has done a pitiful job of analyzing the flaws in the European trade pact, focusing on details like the impact on cheese producers.
In addition to the fact that European sources are bragging about how they skinned us on a variety of issues, the long-term trap is that disputes between Canadian governments and European investors will be settled by “independent” panels of corporate lawyers. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is the hydrogen bomb version of this attack on democracy. The United States has not been a democracy for some time; surely political scientists must label it a “plutocracy”, rule by the rich. Anyone hoping to be elected must spend millions and be beholden to those donors. Canada is rapidly headed in the same direction with the policy of the minority/majority government (37.5% of the vote!) set by a small group of secretive ideologues in the Prime Minister’s Office.
With the advent of instruments like the ICSID, it seems that global business is not satisfied with owning our politicians; it is are bidding for direct control of our lives. Three private individuals are entrusted with the power to review, without restriction or appeal, all actions of a government, all decisions of the courts and all the laws and regulations emanating from Parliament. Democracy becomes a sham. For example, Phillip Morris is suing both Australia and Uruguay over anti-tobacco legislation intended to protect the health of their citizens, and a Canadian mining giant is preparing to sue El Salvador over their Supreme Court’s dismissal of a contract that was improperly granted.
Those who believe that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are benign institutions have not read The Shock Doctrine by the great Canadian journalist, Naomi Klein, which details the methodology they use to control weak governments and impoverish working people. Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela have already withdrawn from the ICSID, and Argentina, hit by multiple suits, is moving to do so. Canada is seeking one “free trade” agreement after another; South Korea is next on the list. Future Canadian governments will find themselves tangled in a web of agreements that limit our national independence. Provinces and communities will find that they cannot protect their land, air and water without being sued through institutions that are above Canadian law.
By coincidence, the column was across the page from one by Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall, who pointed out that low participation in the electoral process threatens democracy and is an invitation to demagogy. This is true enough, but the system is now so flawed and influenced by the immensely powerful forces of globalization that the only answer to restoring the will of the ordinary person may become non-violent direct action of the type that flared up briefly in the Occupy movements.
Air and water are essential to life. In order to avoid individuals taking the law into their own hands like Wiebo Ludwig did, our institutions must work to protect the health of our citizens.
Mike Keeling
Erickson