Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. I have heard that Canada and Ireland are like-minded. I had the privilege, when I was an MEP, of working with Ms Maude Barlow, the chair of the Council of Canadians, and speaking with representatives from Canadian trade unions who had concerns about CETA. I do not wish to tell the committee how to do its business but it would be interesting to hear from the Council of Canadians.

My questions are for Mr. Collenette in particular. I had a look at the membership of the ICBA advisory council. In the interests of transparency, we know Irving Oil, a Canadian oil and gas company, has a refinery in Cork. Vermilion Energy is now the main shareholder of the Corrib gas field operation, with almost €700 million worth of assets in that field. Vermilion is also the company that threatened the then French environment minister, Mr. Nicolas Hulot, with a billion dollar lawsuit when he wanted to phase out oil and gas. The chilling effect of that legal threat meant that the French Government changed its plans and decided to not phase out oil and gas until after 2040. It is also worth noting the language used by Vermilion in that threat to the French Government is similar to the language used in Article 8.10 of CETA, which concerns the right to fair and equitable treatment. It is also correct that under Article 8.10.2(f), there can be an amendment post-ratification as to what constitutes fair and equitable treatment.

Another advisory council member is the law firm of Arthur Cox. Its website refers to the successful defence of multiple judicial reviews against the Corrib gas fields. The advisory council has quite a number of other law firms, including William Fry, corporate lawyers for dispute resolution for oil and gas development, and Pinsent Masons, which is one of the top 100 law firms in the world, with energy again listed as a specialty. There is also Eversheds Sutherland, which boasts 70 arbitration lawyers who regularly act for the energy sector in high-profile disputes and which believes gas to be an important component in the future energy mix, promising to do what its clients need wherever needed. It also lists how arbitration is a preferred mechanism due to the advantage of enforcement over domestic court systems.

In the interests of transparency, is it not fair to say the ICBA and the members of its advisory council, given their make-up and legal-heavy membership, would have an interest in ratifying CETA with the ICS mechanism in place? That is as opposed to just allowing the provisional application of the deal to continue.

That was the case in the Energy Charter Treaty. Some signatories to that treaty provisionally ratified it for decades and have continued to be able to operate.