It would appear efforts for the time being diverted away from Ontario. Instead foolishness is afoot with Tanzania. It is time Harper turns his sights to helping Canadian businesses at home, instead of abroad. We are a stable nation without unrest, significant corruption or labour issues, in a land where the riches are there for the taking, we just need to find a way to expedite processes by restructuring the bureaucracy of Canadian business. Sure, allowing Canadian businessmen to secure investments in other countries is important, especially when the cost to do business in other countries is much cheaper than it would be here in Canada. But shouldn't that be telling us that we have to concentrate efforts here in our own country to encourage businessmen and women to invest in Canada first, before looking to give other countries frought with corruption our jobs and money.

What is a FIPA?

A FIPA is an international treaty providing binding obligations on host governments regarding their treatment of foreign investors and investments. By setting out clear rules and an effective enforcement mechanism, a FIPA provides a stable legal framework to promote and protect foreign investment. It typically sets out a range of obligations that host governments guarantee pertaining to non-discriminatory treatment, expropriation, transfer of funds, transparency, due process and dispute settlement.

While Canada concludes FIPAs to protect Canadian investment abroad, the disciplines are reciprocal and serve to reinforce Canada as a stable and predictable destination for foreign investment. In this respect, FIPAs help enhance two-way investment flows between signatory countries.

In the absence of a FIPA, Canadian investors rely primarily on host country laws and institutions for protection, which adds a variety of risks to their ventures. While there is a general trend in favour of greater openness to foreign investment, significant country risks still exist. For instance, according to the UNCTAD2005 World Investment Report, an unusually high number of new policies introduced by host governments in 2004 made conditions less favourable for foreign companies to enter the market and affects the domestic investment conditions more generally. This policy risk remains in today's global economy.

http://www.einnews.com/pr_news/179740151/harper-government-announces-entry-into-force-of-investment-agreement-with-tanzania

http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/ics/2013/204744.htm