MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) poses some serious threats to the Canadian economy and could result in court actions against the country, Adam Smith, Green Party candidate in the upcoming federal elections, told Sputnik.
“The TPP has some serious dangers for Canada. Its state-company arbitration mechanism may result in us getting sued for trying to pass legislation that threatens industry profits or for having state-run programs,” Smith said.
There has been considerable opposition to the free trade deal from international organizations and lawmakers, who have criticized the TPP’s secrecy during negotiations, as well as its favoring of multinational corporations.
Federal elections in Canada will take place on Monday, October 19. According to the current projections by CBC’s Poll Tracker, the Liberal Party is leading with some 35 percent of support, followed by the Conservatives and the New Democratic Party (NDP) with 30 and 24 percent correspondingly. The Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party follow the frontrunners.
The Conservative party previously said that it would not sign the TPP agreement unless it was in Canada’s best interest, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling it “a tremendous deal.” The Liberal party criticized the Conservatives for negotiating the deal, and its head Justin Trudeau called for the full text of the accord.
NDP leader Tom Mulcair said his government would not be bound by the TPP agreement as it would hurt the Canadian families, while the Green Party head, Elizabeth May, said the deal would threaten several sectors.
Canada should invest more in innovative projects, moving its economy away from dependence on raw commodity sales, Adam Smith told Sputnik.
“The economic policy of the new government needs to be about moving away from our dependence on unprocessed commodity sales,” Smith said.
According to Smith, the current situation on the oil markets and in the global economy shows that Canada will not be able to rely on the sale of natural goods to pay its bills as it has done in the past. The country should invest in entrepreneurs, he added.
“New innovative start-ups usually aren't making a profit that they pay taxes on at the time when they most need access to capital. That's why we propose a $1 billion dollar Green Technology Commercialization Grant fund to support our up-and-coming entrepreneurs,” Smith said.
Canada is a major exporter of crude oil and natural gas, as well as metals and wood. According to Statistics Canada data, the country’s economy is in recession. The slowdown was triggered by the global decline in oil prices, hampering Canada’s energy exports.
