The following is excerpted from 22 April 2013 article by CBC News.
A delay in the federal government's adoption of a controversial investment treaty with China has energized the Opposition New Democrats, who are opposed to the deal and would like to see it stopped.
MPs will be voting on an NDP motion calling on the Canadian government to inform China that it will not ratify the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA).
The government had signalled last fall its intention to ratify the investment treaty it signed with China and tabled in Parliament in September, but six months have passed and the Conservatives have yet to adopt the deal…
The Canadian government has been criticized for negotiating this deal behind closed doors. Opposition critics and experts say it contains significant gaps and provides few benefits for Canada.
Gus Van Harten, an international investment law expert and associate professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, told CBC News that Canada would come out "on the losing side."…
Although a Conservative majority government means the NDP motion will be defeated, Davies said New Democrats have been privately hearing from Conservative backbenchers who are against the deal…
While Gerald Keddy, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of international trade, did not give an explanation for the government's delay in ratifying the FIPA with China, he dismissed the NDP motion, telling the Commons "it's not just anti-investment, it's basically anti-trade."
Davies told CBC News the NDP is not against trade with China, it's simply opposed to this deal in its current form…
This article is available in its entirety at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/04/21/pol-fipa-with-china-ratification-delayed.html.