Our country negotiated NAFTA with Canada and Mexico ostensibly for the benefit of the people in the 3 countries. But here is an incident that proves it was negotiated for business interests at the expense of the needs and desires of ordinary citizens.
Last month, Glamis Gold Ltd, a Canadian company, started using NAFTA as a gun to the head of our government: Either the U.S. pays money or Glamis sues. The way NAFTA has been negotiated, a business can sue a foreign government if it takes actions that are "tantamount to expropriation." Glamis claims California did this when it enacted environmental and public health laws that reduced the value of its proposed open-pit gold mine in Imperial County.
Here are some of the details. Glamis has 1571 square miles of desert land in Imperial County, where it wants to build an open-pit gold mine. California officials say the project would produce an 880-foot deep open pit and 280-foot-high piles of waste rock. According to California law, the company would be required to backfill and flatten mine waste piles. Within a mile of Native American sacred sites, the law requires complete land restoration. Glamis claims it would lose money if it complied with the law.
So it has filed an intent-to-sue. Meanwhile, it says it is ready to explore a "negotiated solution."
What are their chances of achieving a "negotiated solution"? With the NAFTA gun to our government's head the chances are good. The chances look a lot better when you realize that our current Republican government likes these types of provisions. It is pushing for similar provisions in the proposed Free Trade Area of Americas.
It makes me wonder whether we have a government of the people or a government of businesses.
