On August 2, 2017, Michael Woods participated a joint Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAC)/ Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI) Roundtable on the subject of Intellectual Property (IP) rights and upcoming NAFTA re-negotiations. Participants included representation from First Nations, Government of Canada, and others interested in the upcoming NAFTA negotiations. Jim Balsillie, former co-CEO of Research In Motion (RIM) and the founder of CIGI, launched the session with an informal presentation on the need to foster Canada’s “ Innovation Economy” and the importance for NAFTA negotiators to take this into account when addressing IP aspects. Roundtable members then discussed IP and the recognition and protection of “Traditional Knowledge” and other forms of Indigenous business and cultural expression. Michael spoke in his own capacity as a trade lawyer and former trade negotiator. He also spoke capacity a member of the executive council of the International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization (IITIO) along with fellow members Jim Ransom of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and Kyle Delisle of the Mohawks of Kahnawa:ke. See the link to the roundtable...
Read MoreMichael Woods & IITIO Submission on NAFTA Modernization Indigenous Peoples Participation Consistent with Canadian and International Law and Policy
Michael Woods was recognized by his colleagues at the Inter-Tribal Trade Investment Organization (IITIO) for his contribution to the organization’s submission to Global Affairs Canada with respect to the upcoming negotiations with the United States and Mexico on the modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The submission draws on recent decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada and important developments in international law including the adoption of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007 and the more recent reaffirmation of Indigenous rights by the adoption of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (ADRIP) in 2016. In the submission IITIO, points to these recent developments and the Government of Canada own statements leads to the need to for the participation of Indigenous peoples in the negotiation of international agreements that impact their rights. IITIO submits that this is consistent with international law as well as in line with current international and Canadian domestic policy for Indigenous rights. See the submission endorsed by IITIO executive at this link as well as a letter in support filed by the Shuswap National Tribal Council. ...
Read More“A Diplomacy Vacuum Canada Well Positioned to Fill”
Michael Woods was quoted at length in the June 2017 edition of Lexpert Magazine, a leading Canadian business law publication. In the article, A Siren Call among Shrill Notes by Julius Melnitzer, Michael is one of the leading members of Canada’s international trade bar asked to comment on the implications for Canada of the current U.S. Administration’s protectionist moves on trade. He takes a positive view that that “ … the demand for international business expansion remains alive and well … [Canada] is a G7 country that looks like the global leader in promoting trade liberalization.” The article addresses both NAFTA and Canada’s growing options with respect to Europe and the CETA and Asia on continuing negotiations with TPP partners as well as China. Michael encourages continuing and deepening strategic partnership between Canada’s businesses and government in building the strongest partnership possible – one that will keep Canada “punching above our weight” in terms of global...
Read MoreMichael Woods Participates at Inter-Tribal Trade Conference in Oklahoma
Michael Woods participated in the third Inter-Tribal Trade Investment Organization (IITIO) Conference on June 4-6 hosted by the Faculty of Law of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. The conference itself was proceeded by a visit to the Choctaw Nation and Citizen Potawatomi Nation and trade discussions these two Nations as well as the Chickasaw Nation. Michael chaired two panels at the conference – one on “Optimizing Conditions for Tribal Trade” featuring Miles Richardson O.C. former President of the Council of Haida Nation and Robert Fox, former Chief of the Blood Tribe and current President and CEO of Indian Resource Council of Canada. He also chaired a panel on Trade Agreements and Trading Frameworks in International Trade Law and Inter-Tribal Trade” and led a discussion on the implications of the upcoming NAFTA modernization negotiations. The conference was followed by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma’s 30th Annual Sovereignty Symposium and Michael took an active part in discussion on economic development for Canada’s First Nations and the American Native communities through greater and broader economic co-operation. [ For further details see http://iitio.org/agenda/...
Read MoreGeography, History, Economic, Necessity … A Comprehensive Plan, Mutually Beneficial and Advantageous to Both Sides
On the eve of an official visit to Canada almost twenty years ago Canada in one of his weekly radio addresses President Ronald Reagan spoke to the American people about and his broad vision for the future. He began by quoting from President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 speech to a joint session of Parliament in Ottawa; Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder. President Kennedy’s words occurred to me when I reflected on the recent American Conference Institute Forum on U.S. Export and Re-Export Compliance in Toronto where Jean-Marc Clément and I were among the presenters. My panel featured two senior representatives of Canada’s aerospace industry whose experience and expertise allowed them to address the specifics of Canada’s Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and the Enhanced Security Strategy (ESS) with great facility. That freed me up to make a few comments on the “big picture” and so I reminded the conference participants – Canadians and Americans engaged in the aerospace, defence, and high-tech sectors – that their work represented a vital element in the $ 2.4 billion a day bilateral trade relationship between our two countries. I was thinking of President Kennedy’s words in the context of both these key sectors and the Canada-U.S. partnership – one that is built on much more than economic self-interest. Geography, history and necessity have created a unique and enduing alliance. At this conference we addressed one important product f that alliance. The “Canadian Exemption” allows U.S. suppliers to export certain export controlled goods to Canadian recipients registered in the CGP. At last week’s conference, I referred to the hard work of business people on both sides of the border that makes these special bilateral measures work and the free trade- driven approach that Professor Michael Hart refers to as “embedded in the industrial structure of both countries.” I also pointed to the hard work of government officials in building the regulatory bridge that accounted the need to maintain and grow bilateral trade and economic integration while addressing...
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