A progressive group says it's baffled that the Canadian government has worked at the NAFTA negotiating table to protect a dispute resolution system that allows companies to sue governments, estimating it has cost Canadian taxpayers $314 million.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says in a report to be published Tuesday that Chapter 11 provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement have cost Canada $95 million in unrecoverable legal fees, calculated based on data it obtained through an access to information request.

The report comes ahead of the latest round of NAFTA renegotiations, slated to kick off in Montreal on Jan. 23. The U.S. wants to water down the enforcement mechanism for Chapter 11 by making dispute resolution panels non-binding or voluntary.

This was excerpted from the 16 January 2018 edition of CBC News.