TPP dead in the water without First Nation consent

[Oscar]

TPP dead in the water without First Nation consent

[ https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publi ... on-consent ]

Pamela Palmater November 1, 2016

Canada has promoted the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as being in the “best interests” of the national economy, promising more jobs and export opportunities while claiming it will also improve social conditions, reduce poverty and include strong environmental protections. An economic impact assessment of the TPP released in September by Global Affairs Canada estimates GDP gains of about $4.3 billion by 2040 if Canada ratifies the deal, and GDP losses of $5.3 billion if it doesn’t. Both amounts are essentially rounding errors—the equivalent of a few months’ worth of normal economic growth—but that didn’t stop TPP supporters using the announcement to urge the Trudeau government to commit, sooner than later, to firmly endorsing the agreement.

Lost in all the hype is the question of whether Canada can legally ratify the TPP—even if the Trudeau government decides that’s what it would like to do. Had the government asked this question of First Nations in Canada, the answer would likely have been no.

Canada has, once again, wrongly assumed it has the legal and political authority to negotiate a major international free trade agreement that would significantly impact the constitutionally and internationally protected rights of Indigenous peoples and their lands, waters and resources without their consent. Much of Canada has never been ceded or surrendered by Indigenous Nations. Decisions from Canada’s Supreme Court confirm that unceded Indigenous lands can be claimed as Aboriginal title, which amounts to the exclusive use, ownership, benefit and control of specific territories by Indigenous Nations.

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[ https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publi ... on-consent ]

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Dr. Pamela D. Palmater is a Mi'kmaw lawyer and member of the Eel River Bar First Nation in New Brunswick. She teaches Indigenous law, politics and governance at Ryerson University and is Chair in Indigenous Governance. In June, she presented to Parliament’s international trade committee on the impacts of the TPP on Indigenous rights and governance.