While watching CBC’s Power and Politics this past week, political commentator Ian Capstick sighted that one of the major concerns the US has with respect to Canadian policy is around copyright. Currently the Canadian Government has put a new updated copyright bill (C-32) before the House which is currently in committee. This bill would see the ratification of WIPO, which is the US’s main concern. If C-32 were to be derailed by an election or for political reasons, according to Mr. Capstick's sources, the US might move against trade issues important to Canada which may include softwood lumber. It has been widely speculated that the softwood lumber dispute was resolved due to an agreement with the US to ratify WIPO and update our copyright laws in Canada. The interesting part of this is, not even a day after Mr. Capstick stated this, the Conservatives have started to pump some cash into the lumber industries.
There’s a delicate balance that needs to be played out here with Canadian diplomats. Neither country can afford trade wars, and Canadians must have the opportunity to display sovereign control over our legislative laws. Currently the committee hearings studying bill C-32 are jammed packed with special interest groups that have strong American ties, rather than independent experts that have studied the copyright issue for years. Not even Governments own independent researchers on copyright are on the committee witness list.
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