by Gus Van Harten| Troy Media

There is a lot of spin about the Canada-China investment treaty (or FIPA). Canadians should not be fooled into the deal. They should insist on an independent review of the government’s claims, before the treaty is locked in for 31 years.

Recently, National Post columnist Andrew Coyne analyzed the treaty and pronounced it safe. However, Coyne missed key elements of the treaty, did not compare it to other agreements, and failed to appreciate the record of arbitration awards. Here is a more accurate overview of the treaty’s significance for Canada.

Since coming to power in 2006, the Canadian prime minister “has acquired a reputation for playing fast and loose with the rules.” Harper plays to his social conservative base. He and his Conservative majority government tolerate neither criticism nor dissent. But these “bullying” ways are set to boost the opposition’s popularity and lead to Harper’s downfall in 2015.

That’s the verdict by The Economist, a renowned right-loving British weekly magazine.

Remember when NDP leader Thomas Mulcair claimed that Canada risks acquiring the economic condition known as Dutch Disease? He was right, according to a report released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). According to the National Post, the report suggests that Alberta and other resource-rich Canadian provinces Newfoundland and Saskatchewan “have prospered, while others have fallen behind, in part because a commodity boom has strengthened the Canadian dollar.”  So, Canada “needs to do more to develop non-resource aspects of the economy so as to maintain high levels of employment and an equitable distribution of wealth across regions.”

More from the National Post.