if people want to understand the actual opposition to this deal, the thing to start with is by googling the following term: investor-state dispute settlement. the various articulations of opposition are almost all based on ramifications of this.

basically, it allows corporations to bypass real judicial systems and have disputes settled by corporate-appointed tribunals. the history of this is pretty clear: the united states always wins.

this is why we argue that it is an abolition of canadian sovereignty.

i went to all kinds of anti-trade protests in the late 90s and early 00s. i don't recall the issue of supply management for dairy farmers ever coming up. and, in fact, these farmers voted overwhelmingly for the conservatives.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-tpp-agreement-atlanta-1.3254569

well, this doesn't say anything important about any of the issues that opponents are likely to draw attention to, with the exception, perhaps, of the automotive issues.

again: i don't consider supply management in dairy to be an important concern. but i still don't know how one proposes that countries on the other side of the pacific can import cheese or butter to canada at a competitive price. and, the lower dollar should offset any benefits american producers see. nor am i going to complain if cheese prices come down a little. hey, it's a little bit of retributive justice for these people for putting harper in power in the first place.

further, japan is a first world country. i can't see how it makes sense to build cars in japan and ship them across the ocean. i think maybe japan might be more interested in building cars in vietnam and shipping them to china, or maybe australia. nor do i see how it makes sense to build cars in vietnam and ship them to canada. i just don't see how the economics make it feasible to build cars for the north american market outside of north america without becoming uncompetitive due to various costs, and nafta already included mexico.

but, listen: we need to be thinking about retooling factories, anyways. we have huge dormant capacities. maybe we could start building electric cars for the local market, or convert them to high speed train factories or whatever else.

again: i'm more interested in things like patents, chapter 11 style agreements, etc. and i really hope this comes up in the discussion, despite being fully aware that it likely won't.