Heralded as the “child of NAFTA”, the Trans Pacific Partnership has received a new dimension of influence, as Canada has officially been accepted into the grouping of Pacific Nations during this June’s G20 Summit. In a declassified document written from Canada’s Harper administration to the Deputy Minister of International Trade Louis Levesques, the enthusiasm of the Canadian intention to be a part of the group was revealed with Harper’s promise that the near absolute powers afforded to a majority government would be use in any way possible to ensure cooperation with the terms of this sweeping free trade deal.
It is revealing to note that the primary proponent of the TPP in Canada has been the Canadian Council of Chief Executives which represents a club of CEOs of the biggest firms and financial institutions in Canada which released a report in October 2011 called Canada, China and Rising Asia: A Strategic Proposal which advocated the immediate integration of Canada into the broad sweeping free trade deals embodied in the TPP with Asian nations. This club, which is essentially the hand of the british empire in Canada were the architects of NAFTA. The primary obstacle for Canada’s entry into the deal has been the long held protective tarrif, and quota garantees for dairy and poultry producers in Canada. Seeing that Harper has shown his unabashed use of his broad majority power to illegally dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board last year(1) via the passage of bill C-18, it cannot be a question of “if” but rather of “when” the same fate will await the dairy and farm producers if this is not stopped soon. It is evident that such programs as the TPP are designed to have a three fold strategic purpose in the context of the current financial breakdown crisis of the trans Atlantic economy: 1) Hollow out the last remnants of national sovereignty in the industrial nations, while ensuring that no potential industrialization should occur in those countries aspiring for development, 2) Weaken the Shanghai Cooperation Organization which represents the greatest strategic threat for the bankrupt British empire, and 3) further isolate China from the west within a greater geopolitical world war strategy. Aside from Canada, the other members who are part of the negotiations are: the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapour, Vietnam, Japan and Mexico. (1) For a full timeline of the illegal passage of C-18, go to http://friendsofcwb.ca/battle/courtchallenges#injunction