I really appreciate your comments here Peter.

"It is simply unacceptable for the Harper government to proceed without first bringing the deal to the House of Commons for debate and a vote."

Agreed.

"Thankfully, in both Manitoba and Nova Scotia, the provincial NDP government in power took steps to protect certain sectors of their economies, as did some other provinces."

Perhaps some provinces tried, given the short time frames available. But the reality is that Harper's giveaways will screw all the provinces, as outlined in the babble thread/s on Public Services.   And some provincial 'exclusions', like McGuinty's naming of OPG, are pure spin when his 'green' energy program gives private generator lenders, including foreign lenders, new rights over public law. 

How can any Crown Corporations be considered 'exempt' when the purse strings for their funding are controlled by US finance and hidden in privacy protection?

We need to reclaim our oil and other sectors as CCPA/Parkland suggest, but if US bankers control our money it won't happen.

A transformation is needed across the board.

"Then in the 2006 Speech from the Throne, the Harper government promised that "significant international treaties will be submitted to votes in Parliament.""

good point.

"While it may not technically be a new treaty, it is a significant addition to one".

And it's a significant addition to interprovincial deals (BC-Alberta TILMA, Ont-Que deal). 

Harper's deal also undermines public control in provinces, territories, and municipalities across Canada via changes in federal finance: Corporate rights dominate public rights in the context of existing deals and cuts. 

I'm thinking here too of changes in recent years to municipal and planning acts which hamstring public participatory decision-making in the context of Harper's so-called Build Canada Fund.  The fund, and regulatory changes eg. in Ontario, divert public money to private pockets, while public services are slashed.

Linda McQuaig's article on deficits is useful here.  She quoted Armine Yalnizian's observation that federal governments spent 15% of GDP after WWII, later 12%. 

We need to get back to properly funding public services and public infrastructure, not through public-private partnerships, and certainly not through procurement deals that give our money and power to US financiers.

You are generous in giving Harper an opportunity to redeem himself in the face of his latest undemocratic and destructive debacle.

I've lost confidence in his government.

Harper has drawn up a Bill of Rights giving direct privacy-protected control of federal financial functions to US bankers.

Parallel rights to procure finance are provided at most provincial and municipal levels.

If these functions stop being performed by public employees through budget cuts, and the functions are contracted out, US bankers can procure them.

Once initiated, under NAFTA our public rights cannot be reclaimed.

The framing is not just that Harper's procurement deal is an extension of NAFTA.

Harper has constructed the final red button to annihilate Canadians' sovereignty over our own economy and environment.