OTTAWA, Canada—China’s totalitarian regime will be able to sue Canada over lost profits resulting from stricter environmental controls or other regulatory changes under a foreign investor protection agreement Stephen Harper announced during his current trip to China.
The ramifications of the agreement were detailed for reporters Thursday by Green MP and party leader Elizabeth May. May said Chinese state investment in Canada’s oil sands (sometimes referred to as tar sands) and the new deal that Harper hopes to finalize after review by Parliament will open Canada to significant foreign influence by the Chinese regime.
She also highlighted that Chinese state investment could already be costing Canadian jobs.
For example, Chinese state-owned Sinopec, China’s top oil refiner, already owns enough shares of Syncrude, the dominant player in the oil sands, to veto the company from going beyond producing oil sands crude, or from refining the product further. Currently each of Syncrude’s seven owners gets their share of upgraded bitumen to refine or sell. May said Sinopec’s heavy investments in the Enbridge pipeline to the West Coast are part of a comprehensive effort to export crude oil to China, where Sinopec is the top refiner.
The Chinese state has between $12 billion and $20 billion invested in the oil sands, and is part of a consortium that is helping fund the regulatory and development costs of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline to Kitimat, British Columbia, where tankers would take oil to Asia. Sinopec’s money comes in exchange for guaranteed shipments via the pipeline and an equity stake.
