So here is the thing – arguments about which natives (be they Malay or Tsimshian peoples) have rights worthy of recognition by which nations blah blah that seems to be old hat in an age of TPP and its ilk. Nations themselves are in the process of signing away their legislative and jurisdictional privileges to the large corporate players of the global economy. Speaking in the context the analogous transatlantic treaty, the TTIP, Alfred-Maurice De Zayas (independent expert on the promotion of democracy appointed by the human rights council of the UN) has warned, “We don’t want a dystopian future in which corporations and not democratically elected governments call the shots. We don’t want an international order akin to post-democracy or post-law.”
A case in point is the penalties BC taxpayers will be liable for if our Province is compelled, by a Supreme Court decision, future electoral mandate or even an effective native blockade, to renege on their deal with Petronas. The point raised for consideration here is – what how this possible, nay probable, legal conundrum might unfold in a jurisdictional future under the auspices of the TPPA!
The Koboi Project 