FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 30, 2012

NDP CALLS FOR TAKE NOTE DEBATE ON CANADA-CHINA TREATY

Unprecedented trade agreement could be in force November 1^st

OTTAWA – Faced with an urgent need to review the deal, New Democrats are calling on the government to hold a take note debate on the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement between Canada and China (FIPA).

By Tamu Miles

Local politicians have a loud and clear message to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission.

And that message is: the proposed changes to the electoral boundaries for the Cowichan Valley do not work.

Lake Cowichan Mayor Ross Forrest, Cowichan Lake South Director Ian Morrison, and Jean Crowder, MP for Nanaimo-Cowichan are all unhappy with the proposed boundaries that would see the current riding of Nanaimo-Cowichan split into two ridings: Nanaimo Cowichan and South Cowichan Juan de Fuca.

Canadians are facing another massive omnibus Bill that amends many other pieces of legislation.

New Democrats stand firmly against this method of presenting legislation. It prevents fulsome debate on all the laws being amended and is not a democratic way of changing legislation.

The Dominion One still sits at a dock in Cowichan Bay after it drifted there in a storm earlier this spring.

Before that, the old fishing vessel had been moored in the Bay for several years, causing local residents to worry that it could drift, spill fuel, or sink.

Now, the Coast Guard has plans to get the pollutants and fuel removed from the eyesore. The superintendent for Environmental Response, Don Rodden, told SunFM News they are trying to get a contract in place to get that job done within the next few months.