What not to like about the Canada-EU trade deal

"The biggest deal Canada has ever made."

That's how Prime Minister Stephen Harper is describing Canada's free trade deal with the European Union, announced in principle on Friday.

At a press conference in Brussels, Harper touted the deal as one that would create 80,000 jobs and pour $12 billion into the Canadian economy. In the House of Commons on Thursday, the government boasted that the agreement could add $1,000 to the income of the average Canadian family.

The deal still needs to be ratified by the provinces and by the European nations, so its implementation is at least 18 months away.

[ Related: Say cheese: EU strikes trade deal with Canada, looks to U.S ]

Overall, most economists agree this deal is a good news story for most Canadians and Canadian businesses that get access to a consumer market of over 500 million people.

But like any trade deal — there is some opposition.

Here's what is being opposed.

Say cheese:

With the implementation of the deal, European cheese quotas will double to the detriment — says the Canadian Dairy industry — of Canadian cheese producers.

"Dairy farmers will not support the Harper government agreeing to a deal with the EU that gives away the Canadian cheese market that Canadian dairy farmers and cheese makers have worked so hard to develop over the years," notes a statement released by the Dairy Farmers of Canada earlier this week.

"Dairy Farmers of Canada is angered and disappointed with this news as the reality is that Canada would lose its small, artisan and local cheese makers and a world-leading industry with top quality products – within a short time frame. If this deal proceeds, the Canadian government will have given the EU an additional exclusive access of 32% of the current fine cheese market in Canada, over and above the existing generous access.

"This deal would displace our local products with subsidized cheeses from EU and risk our small businesses being shut down or put out of business. This is unacceptable."

On Friday, Harper indicated that his government will work with their provincial counterparts on a compensation program for the affected dairy farmers.

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Pricier prescription drugs:

As explained by the Globe and Mail, drug companies will now receive an extra two years for their patents, "meaning lower cost generics won’t be available as early in Canada"

According to EUbusiness.com, the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Health Coalition have been urging the federal government to remove drug policies from the deal.

"The two non-governmental agencies released a poll conducted by Ipsos Reid that shows high support for a Canada-EU free trade deal were it not for the issue of pharmaceutical drug costs. It said 69 percent of Canadians opposed to a deal that would lengthen patent protections for brand name drugs," notes a 2011 report by the online magazine.

"The agencies also cited a 2011 University of Toronto study that found lengthening patent terms for drugs in Canada would increase the cost of public and private drug plans in Canada by at least $2.8 billion. The extra costs come from delaying the introduction of cheaper generic drugs by 3.5 years."

According to the Globe and Mail, "a compensation program" for generic drug companies is under consideration.

European companies suing Canadian governments?

The Council of Canadians is raising alarm bells about the potential inclusion of an investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism into the deal giving Canadian and European companies the power to sue governments when "completely reasonable public health, resource conservation and other policies interfere with a corporation’s ‘right’ to profit."

"Canada is already facing nearly $2.5 billion worth of corporate lawsuits under an investment protection chapter in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Why would we want to expose our taxpayers to even more?" Garry Neil, Executive Director of the Council asked in a statement from Brussels, where he is working to build an EU/Canada coalition to defeat the agreement.

"Canadians could face challenges from big European pharmaceutical companies. Meanwhile, policies like the EU Fuel Quality Directive could also be challenged, forcing European governments to pay Canadian energy companies."

Green Party leader Elizabeth May is also concerned about the "anti-democratic" mechanism.

"Prior to this Agreement, Europe has had the good sense to avoid these dangerous investor-state agreements, which are rapidly falling out of favour internationally", May said in a statement.

"But Prime Minister Harper seems bound and determined to tie the hands of future Canadian governments - national, provincial, and municipal. The devil can't be in the details, because we've already now seen it in the summary."

Water use:

The Council of Canadians is also worried about what the Canada-EU deal will mean to water usage.

In a blog post published by Rabble.ca, Maude Barlow — the National Chairperson of the Council — says that the increase in Canadian beef and pork exports will put a strain on our water supplies.

"Beef producers can now export close to 70,000 tonnes of beef to Europe and an undisclosed but higher amount of pork. Meat production is highly water intensive. It takes over 15 million litres of water to produce one tonne of beef, for example," Barlow wrote.

"To protect our precious watersheds, what we need is more sustainable and local food production, not massive new trade deals that will strain our water sources beyond their capacity."

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