{"id":64473,"date":"2015-11-10T02:25:26","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T08:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=64473"},"modified":"2015-11-10T02:25:26","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T08:25:26","slug":"balsillie-fears-tpp-could-cost-canada-billions-and-become-worst-ever-policy-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/11\/10\/balsillie-fears-tpp-could-cost-canada-billions-and-become-worst-ever-policy-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Balsillie fears TPP could cost Canada billions and become worst ever policy move"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jim<\/a>
Jim Balsillie (Photo from The Canadian Press\/Dave Chidley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OTTAWA \u2013 Jim Balsillie warns that provisions tucked into the Trans-Pacific Partnership could cost Canada hundreds of billions of dollars \u2013 and eventually make signing it the worst public policy decision in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

After poring over the treaty\u2019s final text, the businessman who helped build Research In Motion into a $20-billion global player said the deal contains \u201ctroubling\u201d rules on intellectual property that threaten to make Canada a \u201cpermanent underclass\u201d in the economy of selling ideas.<\/p>\n

Last month, in the middle of the election campaign, the Conservative government put Canada\u2019s signature on the controversial 12-country pact. The Pacific Rim agreement, which includes the massive American and Japanese economies, has been described as the world\u2019s largest-ever trade zone.<\/p>\n

But Balsillie said parts of the deal will harm Canadian innovators by forcing them to play by rules set by the treaty\u2019s most-dominant partner: the United States.<\/p>\n

The fallout could prove costly for Canada because technologies created by these entrepreneurs have the potential to create huge amounts of wealth for the economy, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a partisan actor, but I actually think this is the worst thing that the Harper government has done for Canada,\u201d the former co-chief executive of RIM said in an interview after studying large sections of the 6,000-page document, released to the public last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think in 10 years from now, we\u2019ll call that the signature worst thing in policy that Canada\u2019s ever done…<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a treaty that structures everything forever \u2013 and we can\u2019t get out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Balsillie\u2019s concerns about the deal include how it would impose intellectual property standards set by the U.S., the biggest partner in the treaty.<\/p>\n

He fears it would give American firms an edge and cost Canadian companies more money because they would have to pay for someone else\u2019s ideas instead their own.<\/p>\n

On top of that, Balsillie believes the structure could prevent Canadian firms from growing as it would also limit how much money they can make from their own products and services.<\/p>\n

Balsillie, who spent much of his time building RIM by negotiating agreements around the world, called the comprehensive final text a \u201cbrilliant piece of literature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such brilliantly systemic encirclement. I\u2019m just in awe at its powerful purity by the Americans…<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been outfoxed.\u201d<\/p>\n

And unlike legislation passed in Parliament, he noted treaties like this one set rules that must be followed forever. This deal, he added, also features \u201ciron-clad\u201d dispute mechanisms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m worried and I don\u2019t know how we can get out of this,\u201d said Balsillie, who\u2019s also helping guide the creation of a lobby group that would press for the needs of Canada\u2019s innovation sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our trade negotiators have profoundly failed Canadians and our future innovators. I really lament it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the government should have dispatched a more-sophisticated negotiating team.<\/p>\n

Harper had hailed the agreement as a means of ensuring Canadian access to a market of nearly 800 million people and before it was signed, warned Canada couldn\u2019t afford not to take part.<\/p>\n

The deal must be ratified by all 12 countries, and then it would come into force six months later. It would require a parliamentary vote in Canada.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, the treaty can also take effect if it\u2019s ratified by half the countries representing 85 per cent of the zone\u2019s economy. A country can withdraw any time, on six months\u2019 notice.<\/p>\n

The Liberal government has yet to say how it will proceed.<\/p>\n

International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, named to cabinet a day before the finalized treaty was made public, reiterated that the Liberals believe in trade, but she was careful to note the deal was negotiated by the Conservative government.<\/p>\n

After the text was released, Freeland told reporters she wanted Canadians to send her comments about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to take that seriously \u2013 we\u2019re going to review it,\u201d she said Thursday.<\/p>\n

The government, she added, is committed to a full parliamentary debate on the deal and a vote in the House of Commons, though she had yet to set a deadline.<\/p>\n

She declined to answer questions whether the Liberals would be prepared to walk away from the deal.<\/p>\n

Balsillie warned that the Liberals\u2019 plan to run budgetary deficits of up to $10 billion in each of the next three years could pale in comparison to what could be lost in the country\u2019s ideas economy because of the TPP.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese provisions are more important by far \u2013 times 10 \u2013 than anything else in the agreement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re having no discussion on it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA \u2013 Jim Balsillie warns that provisions tucked into the Trans-Pacific Partnership could cost Canada hundreds of billions of dollars …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":64474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-64473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","tag-original","mauthors-andy-blatchford","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}