[CTC] Sierra Club brief on recent ISDS case

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Good morning,

I'm sharing Sierra Club's new <http://action.sierraclub.org/site/DocServer/0999_Trade_Bilcon_Factsheet_04_low.pdf?docID=17481> short brief <http://action.sierraclub.org/site/DocServer/0999_Trade_Bilcon_Factsheet_04_low.pdf?docID=17481> on a recent investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) case that demonstrates how "investment" rules in trade agreements threaten common-sense environmental policies that seek to protect communities and endangered species. 

This piece <http://action.sierraclub.org/site/DocServer/0999_Trade_Bilcon_Factsheet_04_low.pdf?docID=17481> is on "Clayton/ Bilcon v. Government of Canada"- an ISDS case that a U.S. company has just won against Canada. The company, Bilcon, is seeking over $300 million in damages in response to an environmental impact assessment that ultimately led Canada and Nova Scotia to reject Bilcon's proposed mining project at the Bay of Fundy. The environmental impact statement warned that the project could harm endangered species of whale and salmon, and would irreparably threaten the "community core values" of people living in the area. However, Bilcon argued that there is no "basis" to consider community values in environmental assessments under Canadian law, and that it had been denied a "minimum standard of treatment" under NAFTA.

The decision of the trade tribunal is very concerning, because it suggests corporations can use trade rules to demand hundreds of millions of dollars in response to environmental assessments that take into account communities' values and wishes. It also provided a foreign company with powers to demand compensation that are not available under Canadian law. For these reasons and more, the dissenting vote on the tribunal said this case would have major chilling effects on future environmental policy-making.

You can find our short brief here <http://action.sierraclub.org/site/DocServer/0999_Trade_Bilcon_Factsheet_04_low.pdf?docID=17481>.

Thanks,
-- 
Courtenay Lewis
Campaign Representative, Responsible Trade Program
Sierra Club
202-495-3026 (office)
202-817-0358 (cell)

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