11/20/2015

Why the secrecy on Canadian trade talks? Because theres something to hide: Geist | Toronto Star

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Why the secrecy on Canadian trade talks?

Because theres something to hide: Geist
While other trade talks occupy a prominent place in the governments promotional
plans, the TPP remains largely hidden from view.

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A protester holds a placard during a rally against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Tokyo in
April. Canada is hosting the latest round of TPP negotiations this week in Ottawa.
By: Michael Geist Technology, Published on Fri Jul 04 2014

Trade agreements have emerged in recent years as one of the federal governments
most frequently touted accomplishments. Having concluded (or nearly concluded) free
trade deals with the likes of the European Union and South Korea, senior government
ministers such as International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Industry Minister James
Moore have held dozens of events and press conferences across the country promoting
the trade agenda.
The next major agreement on the governments docket is the Trans Pacific Partnership,
a massive proposed trade deal that includes the United States, Australia, Mexico,
Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam, Japan, Peru, and Chile. While other trade
talks occupy a prominent place in the governments promotional plans, the TPP
remains largely hidden from view. Indeed, most Canadians would be surprised to learn
Tweet
41
that Canada is hosting the latest round of TPP negotiations this week in Ottawa.
The secrecy associated with the TPP the draft text of the treaty has still not been
formally released, the precise location of the Ottawa negotiations has not been
disclosed, and even the existence of talks was only confirmed after media leaks
suggests that the Canadian government has something to hide when it comes to the
TPP.
Since this is the first major TPP negotiation round to be held in Canada, there was an
opportunity to build public support for the agreement. Yet instead, the Canadian
government approach stands as one of the most secretive in TPP history. Why the
secrecy?
The answer may lie in the substance of the proposed agreement, which leaked
documents indicate often stands in stark contrast to current Canadian policy. The
agricultural provision may attract the lion share of TPP attention, but it is the digital
issues that are particularly problematic from a Canadian perspective.

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11/20/2015

Why the secrecy on Canadian trade talks? Because theres something to hide: Geist | Toronto Star
For example, late last month the government announced that new copyright rules
associated with Internet providers would take effect starting in 2015. The Canadian
system, referred to as a notice-and-notice approach, is widely viewed as among the
most balanced in the world, providing rights holders with the ability to raise concerns
about alleged infringements, while simultaneously safeguarding the privacy and free
speech rights of users.

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The government rightly described its approach as a made in Canada solution.

However, according to leaked text from drafts of the TPP, the U.S. is demanding that
Canada abandon notice-and-notice in favour of rules that could lead to terminating
subscriber access, content blocking, and even monitoring of online activities.

Careers

The same is also true for the term of copyright protection. Canadian law currently
provides protection for the life of the author plus an additional 50 years. That meets the
international standard, yet the U.S. wants all TPP countries to extend the term to life
plus 70 years, effectively keeping works out of the public domain for decades.

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The TPP could also lead to significant changes to Canadian patent law by altering the
standard of utility under Canadian law, expanding protections to plants and animals
with few safeguards, and extending the term of patents in a manner that would keep
cheaper generic drugs off the market. The net effect could be to sharply increase health
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The digital concerns are not limited to intellectual property. The TPP also contains
privacy-related provisions, including potential restrictions on local server requirements
designed to ensure that Canadian personal information is hosted within Canada. A ban
on such requirements would place Canadian data at risk and run counter to the
governments own policies on the storage of its email data.
The Canadian desire to maintain current policies becomes more apparent when the
TPP is contrasted with the Canada South Korea free trade agreement. That
agreement permits the use of the notice-and-notice system and contains no reforms to
copyright term, key patent issues, or privacy protections. The TPP may ultimately
require major changes, however, which helps explain why the government would prefer
that Canadians pay no attention to the secret negotiations taking place this week a few
blocks from Parliament Hill.

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Business
Tweets from a list by TorontoStar
Morgan Campbell
@MorganPCampbell

1h

We'll always have P-Funk. It's been fun.

twitter.com/DarthJaeda/sta

MichaelGeistholdstheCanadaResearchChairinInternetandEcommerceLawat
theUniversityofOttawa,FacultyofLaw.Hecanreachedatmgeist@uottawa.caor
onlineatwww.michaelgeist.ca.

Morgan Campbell
@MorganPCampbell

1h

It's been fun, Jaeda. We'll always have Morris Day.

twitter.com/DarthJaeda/sta

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Why the secrecy on Canadian trade talks? Because theres something to hide: Geist | Toronto Star

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