Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says the Trans-Pacific Partnership may well be the worst trade agreement ever negotiated, and he recommends Canada insist on reworking it.Stiglitz said the provision could be used to prevent raising of minimum wages.
“I think what Canada should do is use its influence to begin a renegotiation of TPP to make it an agreement that advances the interests of Canadian citizens and not just the large corporations,” he said in an interview with CBC’s The Exchange.
Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University in New York, takes issue with the TPP’s investment-protection provisions, which he says could interfere with the ability of governments to regulate business or to move toward a low-carbon economy.
“It used to be the basic principle was polluter pay,” Stiglitz said. “If you damaged the environment, then you have to pay. Now if you pass a regulation that restricts ability to pollute or does something about climate change, you could be sued and could pay billions of dollars.”
He said the provision could be used to prevent raising of minimum wages or to overturn rules that prevent usury or predatory lending practices.
He recommended Canada work with the Europeans, who have also objected to the investment protection provisions, to rework the deal.
