At 5pm last Friday, Prime Minister
Harper announced that he has approved the controversial
takeover of Canadian oil giant Nexen by
China’s state-owned National Offshore Oil
Corporation, CNOOC.[1] Now that the
Nexen takeover has been approved, it’s more important
than ever that we stop FIPA, the
secretive and extreme Canada-China investors deal.
Harper just raised the stakes. If FIPA
passes, CNOOC will gain the power to sue Canadian
governments in secret tribunals if they
believe our democratic decisions impact their
expected profits -- even local
decisions to create jobs, or protect our air, water and
health.
Prime Minister Harper can only pass the
deal at a cabinet meeting, and we’ve found out
they are scheduled to meet twice before
breaking for the holidays - this Thursday and next
Thursday.
Thanks to you, we were ready for this -
we just launched more hard-hitting radio and print
ads to deepen the divisions within
Harper’s caucus. Now we need your help to ramp up the
pressure on vulnerable Conservative MPs
by broadcasting your urgent message in their
backyards.
Can you chip in now to send a powerful
message to hundreds of thousands of Canadians in
key Conservative-held ridings? Just $20
will help buy one radio ad spot in a key riding.
$100 will help buy five.
We know our pressure is working.
Experts thought Prime Minister Harper would approve this
FIPA when he first had a chance on
November 2nd. Together, we blanketed key Conservative
MPs’ ridings with radio ads, and
Harper delayed.
The Conservative MPs in Ottawa are now
deeply divided over this FIPA. We have reliable
reports of a recent Conservative caucus
meeting, where one Conservative MP after another
got up to tell Harper they have grave
concerns about the deal. They’ve been hearing from
their constituents, including many
Canadians who voted for them, and they know they’re
losing crucial support and funding over
this secretive and extreme investor deal. By the
end of the meeting, Harper was fuming!
Now it’s time to double our efforts.
Today we placed a full page ad in Ottawa’s Embassy
Magazine, one of the major papers read
by MPs, and we’ve used up our last reserves for
this campaign to fund another wave of
hard-hitting radio ads targeted in key battleground
ridings where Conservative MPs are the
most vulnerable.
Let’s stop this investor deal before
it binds Canada for 31 years. Your donations will
keep up the pressure through the next
two weeks before the holidays, and help pay for key
campaign costs. Click here to donate to
put hard-hitting radio ads targeting key
Conservative MPs back on the air across
the country.
If Harper can’t control the dissent
within his own caucus, he can’t risk passing FIPA. By
directly pressuring vulnerable MPs on
their home turf, we’ll deepen the divisions within
Harper’s caucus and make it
politically impossible for him to pass FIPA before the
holidays.
The public is outraged by the Nexen
takeover, and this is the key moment to focus
attention on the Canada-China FIPA
where it will make the biggest impact. If we raise
$15,000 we can blanket radio ads across
key Conservative ridings all over the country to
amplify your impact. Click here to make
a secure donation.
Thank you for all you do.
With hope and respect,
Jamie, Matthew, Maggie, Adam, Ryan,
Anna, Jen, Logan and Julia on behalf of the Leadnow.ca
team
PS - The fact that Prime Minister
Harper has claimed that the Nexen approval is the “end”
and not the “beginning” of
state-owned foreign takeovers shows a major reversal in his
position in the face of intense public
opposition.[1]
The new guidelines say a takeover like
Nexen will only occur again in “exceptional
circumstances”, but they lack teeth,
and we need to stop the secretive and extreme
Canada-China FIPA from giving China’s
companies the ability to sue our government in
secret tribunals if common-sense laws
challenge their growing interests. Click here to
donate today.
CNOOC Deal a transfer of sensitive technology
"Hong Kong. September 27. INTERFAX-CHINA - China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s (CNOOC) $15.1 billion bid for Nexen Inc. is coming under increasing scrutiny in Canada over concerns that the state-owned Chinese major could transfer sensitive extraction technology outside of the country after gaining control of the Canadian oil sands developer."
So now the Chinese Communists get our most sensitive franking and deep water drilling technology.
Every day now, more revelations that the scale of the betrayal is beyond comprehension.
They also clarify why the Harper government bluntly ignored public opinion and rubber stamped the CNOOC buy-out of indebted Nexen for three times more than its actual value. CNOOC, by the way, reports to the Communist Party of China. As such the firm has little regard for transparency, human rights or offshore oil spills for that matter.
Bitumen's ailing prospects also explain the government's secretive negotiation of a one-sided investment treaty with China that could make China's highly subsidized and corrupt state owned enterprises the nation's number one foreign investors by 2017.
Harper's disregard for democratic sentiment on these issues (Canadians and Albertans in particular remain opposed to a CNOOC sell-out, let alone the trade deal) ultimately spell one word: desperation. And desperation in a bust and boom petro state, as any North African can tell you, is not a pretty thing."
That may explain why the two parties that have alternated in governing Canada for more than the past century both wanted to get rid of PetroCanada.
And their lack of commitment to Canadian ownership of our own natural resources is why both Harper and the Liberal Party's heir-apparent leader Justin Trudeau both approved of the CNOOC and takeover.
So while the rest of the world reaps the rewards of public ownership of natural resources, Canada has not only gone in the opposite direction, it's also allowing foreign companies to take over what is rightfully ours."
So now the Chinese Communists get our most sensitive franking and deep water drilling technology.
Every day now, more revelations that the scale of the betrayal is beyond comprehension.
Encana, PetroChina form partnership to develop natural gas in Alberta
"CALGARY - Less than a week after Ottawa waved through CNOOC Ltd.'s $15.1-billion takeover of Nexen Inc., a different Chinese state-owned company is plowing another $2.2 billion into the Canadian oilpatch."
Nexen Cave-in: Chairman Harper's Economic Desperation
"These musings on bitumen's dimming prospects from a major U.S. business paper and a former deputy minister no less shed light on Harper's abrupt conversion from Chinese critic to Chinese puppet.
They also clarify why the Harper government bluntly ignored public opinion and rubber stamped the CNOOC buy-out of indebted Nexen for three times more than its actual value. CNOOC, by the way, reports to the Communist Party of China. As such the firm has little regard for transparency, human rights or offshore oil spills for that matter.
Bitumen's ailing prospects also explain the government's secretive negotiation of a one-sided investment treaty with China that could make China's highly subsidized and corrupt state owned enterprises the nation's number one foreign investors by 2017.
Harper's disregard for democratic sentiment on these issues (Canadians and Albertans in particular remain opposed to a CNOOC sell-out, let alone the trade deal) ultimately spell one word: desperation. And desperation in a bust and boom petro state, as any North African can tell you, is not a pretty thing."
If China Can Have State-Owned Energy Firms, Why Can't We?
"Apparently there's a lot wrong with public ownership of natural resources -- if you are ideologically motivated to oppose it.That may explain why the two parties that have alternated in governing Canada for more than the past century both wanted to get rid of PetroCanada.
And their lack of commitment to Canadian ownership of our own natural resources is why both Harper and the Liberal Party's heir-apparent leader Justin Trudeau both approved of the CNOOC and takeover.
So while the rest of the world reaps the rewards of public ownership of natural resources, Canada has not only gone in the opposite direction, it's also allowing foreign companies to take over what is rightfully ours."
"Moreover, the price of entry may be high, since leaked documents
suggest the deal might require a major overhaul of Canadian agriculture,
investment, intellectual property and culture protection rules.
While the substance of the TPP is cause for concern, the more immediate issue is the lack of transparency associated with both the negotiations and Canada's participation in them.
The talks remain shrouded in secrecy, with a draft text that is confidential; public interest groups are largely banned from the venue where the negotiations are being held."
While the substance of the TPP is cause for concern, the more immediate issue is the lack of transparency associated with both the negotiations and Canada's participation in them.
The talks remain shrouded in secrecy, with a draft text that is confidential; public interest groups are largely banned from the venue where the negotiations are being held."
