So. What does all this mean? Well, for one, that environmental concerns and community issues fall by the wayside as far as NAFTA is concerned. I neglected to mention that cancer cases in newborn children has increased significantly since Metalclad started dumping waste, as has mutation rates in the chicken population. It hasn't been proven that there is a correlation. But hey, are you willing to bet that there isn't? So....in face of intense local opposition (who are justifiably concerned about their own lives!), in face of solid evidence that Metalclad is indeed contaminating the water supply, in face of anecdotal evidence that deformed chickens are everywhere.....the tribunal decides in favour of Metalclad. Oops. That's just the environmental thing. What about the community thing? According to NAFTA, governments at the municipal and provincial level are meaningless, they are not recognized. So.....does anybody else see this as a bad thing?
What about other ramifications? What does the bigger picture look like? Well, obviously, there is a threat to humanity underlying the fundamental principles of NAFTA. That NAFTA puts economic concerns so far ahead of environmental concerns is somewhat terrifying. Luckily, it is a self correcting problem. When the environment gets bad enough, all humans will die, and NAFTA will die along with them. So it all works out. But it's the all humans will die part of the equation that has me a touch worried. So there is the threat to humanity. Next, is the threat to regional identity and community. Basically, in NAFTA, there is no regional identity and community, that IS the basic underlying principle behind it. So that's obviously out the window. What else? Oh, the secrecy of the whole thing. What goes on behind closed doors, we don't know. What we do know, is that these are not publicly elected officials, they have no accountability to the public, they are trade people, all they care about is trade. And they are making decisions which affect my life. And I can't be there. Mr. Mulroney, when he signed NAFTA, pretty much signed away any hope of democracy that was left in Canada. From now on, NAFTA makes the real decisions. Government gets only a semblance of power. Already there's been a company, Ethyl Corporation, that has sued Canada. Canada didn't allow them to sell their oil here because it was harmful to the environment. Ethyl sued for $250 million. There was no verdict because they settled out of court. Canada paid $13 million and retracted the legislation prohibiting Ethyl oil in Canada.
Another point. NAFTA is not only assualting environmental regulations, it is crushing the will of the people. When Metalclad was first set to reopen, the population of Guadalcazar turned out en masse to stop them. With machetes. It seems that the will of the people was what forced the envrionmental legislation in the first place. So, NAFTA, by dismissing the environemental legislation, is giving clear favour to the profits of the company over the health and will of the people affected.
Does anybody care out there? I'm getting chills up and down my spine as I write this.
Anyways, we have to be constantly on guard. NAFTA is a prototype. There are many other agreements in the works. NAFTA is eventually going to expand to cover all of the Americas. The MAI is eventually going to expand to cover the entire world. I encourage you to do your own research on these topics. They are incredibly important, I cannot stress how important. Most people don't realize that transnational corporations aleady run their lives. Hopefully it isn't too late to take those lives back.