FIPA -- the secretive and extreme investor deal with China that we’ve been campaigning against for weeks -- is just one part of the problem. The other part is the bid that China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), one of China’s largest oil companies, has put in to take over Nexen, one of Canada's major energy companies.
The massive grassroots outcry against FIPA has stopped Harper from passing it in secret so far -- but he is pushing ahead with the Nexen takeover. And Harper could approve the takeover by Monday. We’ve heard that Prime Minister’s own caucus is very nervous about it, and if we make enough of an outcry we may be able to give Harper no choice but to back off.
Sign our urgent petition to Prime Minister Stephen Harper demanding that the Nexen deal be stopped.
If the Harper Conservatives approve the $15 billion takeover, CNOOC will be treated as a Canadian company and will be able to buy control over more Canadian resources without having to face another test to see if it is in Canada's "net interest".
And here’s the even bigger problem: If FIPA passes after all (remember, Harper can still pass it any day without public consultation), it will make the Nexen deal 10 times worse in every way. CNOOC will be able to sue Canadian governments in secret tribunals if those governments do anything to counter its growing interests -- including common sense environmental protections and job creation efforts. The threat of the Canada-China FIPA makes the CNOOC-Nexen takeover an exponentially worse idea.
The Harper Conservatives have already delayed the deal once before in response to a massive public backlash. Now, because of opposition from Canadian business owners, former politicians and Canadians from coast to coast to coast, the government has been forced to respond to concerns about Nexen. Harper is trying to convince Canadians that the Nexen deal is in our national interest. But if we come together now, we can force him to be accountable to Canadians, and show him that there are real political consequences for not listening to us.
It is only seven years since CNOCC attempted a similarly ambitious deal in the US -- to buy U.S.-based Unocal -- but it was denied because it “would threaten to impair the national security of the United States”. To make sure this deal passes, CNOOC has lobbied the Canadian government 151 times in the last year alone.
Please add your name to our urgent petition to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stop the Nexen deal once and for all.
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Further reading:
Nexen hardly a done deal, Montreal Gazette, December 4, 2012.
The Way Corporate China Woos, Financial Times, December 5, 2012.