Sep 22
The paper finds that the economic effects of the EPA on the countries studied, ”will likely be minimal, despite the fierce opposition to and criticism of the EPA”. But it fails to address the substantive concerns raised by the critics.
I agree very much with Norman and Havelock Brewster”™s comments on the CIGI report. Despite the report”™s claims to the contrary, it is a very thin piece that fails to address any of the substantive critiques, but rather chooses its own narrow measuring stick and downplays or ignores key information in a manner that would appear designed from the start to conclude that free trade is the only and best option for the region (and the world).
And an interesting footnote to all of this is CIGI itself. Not only is CIGI largely dedicated to promoting free markets, with the exception of some of its fellows, but it also represents the growing privatization and marketization of the public sector in Canada, in this case the university. CIGI is a major corporate-funded institution that has thrived in recent years while many of the universities in Canada have faced considerable austerity. Most of its funding comes from Billionaire Jim Balsillie (founder of Research In Motion””Blackberry) who has pumped tens of millions of dollars into the organization over the past several years, helping to fund CIGI and the Balsillie School of International Affairs, at Waterloo University (with participation from Wilfrid Laurier as well). While public universities in general lapse into decline, CIGI has a beautiful building just outside of Waterloo
campus. Thus, CIGI in its very nature and origin is constructed out of the marketization of all aspects of life, so its not surprising to see it offering such a strong apologia for free trade and neoliberal reforms. It represents the growing efforts of corporations to crowd out all critical thought, including or especially those on university
campuses.
On the academic side, Balsillie recent came under some criticism for firing the executive director of CIGI, John English, for failing to give the organization sufficient profile and influence (English recently published an award-winning biography on Pierre Trudeau). [http://news.therecord.com/article/645449.]
Recently, Balsillie, as ” Chair of CIGI” was appointed to the United Nations Secretary-General”™s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, although I”™m not clear what expertise Balsillie has on this issue”¦
Gavin Fridell, PhD
Associate Professor & Chair
Department of Politics
Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive
Peterborough, ON, Canada K9J 7B8
gavinfridell@trentu.ca
http://www.people.trentu.ca/gavinfridell/