A Nafta Battleground on the Shores of Canada [re Digby Neck Quarry and Bilcon ] by NYTimes reporter Oct 16th

[Janet M Eaton]

Ana Swanson was in touch about about ten says ago to get information on the Bilcon
proposal and contacts on the Neck before arriving in Nova Scotia to do further research for 
her article.

fyi-janet

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/us/politics/nafta-united-states-canada.html

A Nafta Battleground on the Shores of Canada

By ANA SWANSON OCT. 16, 2017

DIGBY NECK, Nova Scotia - This far-flung peninsula in the North Atlantic seems an unlikely
place for an international trade dispute. But an American company´s scuttled plans to build a
quarry here have turned these quiet fishing grounds into a case study of the kind of thorny
disputes that threaten to derail the North American Free Trade Agreement...

Bilcon sued Canada - and won. The company is seeking as much as $443 million, plus
costs. While the Canadian government can fight to lower that sum, Nafta provides no appeal
mechanism to reverse the underlying legal decision.
Photo
Residents protested against the proposed quarry in the early 2000s. Credit Stephanie Foden
for The New York Times

The ability of foreign companies to sue governments is one of the most contentious issues in
the clash among the United States, Mexico and Canada over how to rework Nafta. The
Trump administration views that section of Nafta as impinging on national sovereignty, saying
it undermines government decision-making. The United States is pushing for dramatic
changes in that provision that would roll back the ability of companies to bring cases under
Nafta. Those changes are fiercely opposed by businesses, Mexico and - despite its loss to
Bilcon - Canada.

It is the latest in a series of demands by the United States that have pushed the trade talks to
the brink of collapse. President Trump campaigned on reworking the pact, which he has
described as a bad deal for American workers. Negotiators are meeting every two weeks to
hammer out changes to the deal. But as recently as last week, Mr. Trump continued
threatening to walk away from the pact, an outcome that could disrupt corporate supply
chains that span the continent and put at risk millions of jobs that are supported by
commerce among the three nations.

-snip--

Read on for lengthy article with photos of quarry site and locals involved.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/us/politics/nafta-united-states-canada.html
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