When it was created in 1989, Environment Probe focused on the opportunities in the Free Trade Agreement to improve environmental standards. Because Canada’s standards tended to be lower than those in the US, harmonization could mean cleaner air and water for Canadians. The Free Trade Agreement also presented opportunities to reduce environmentally harmful resource subsidies — not just in the form of laxer standards but also in the form of economic subsidies, such as below-market stumpage fees.
The US Non-Ferrous Minerals Mining Industry decided to intervene in the Free Trade Agreement subsidy definition discussions after Environment Probe explained that their Canadian counterparts were operating under laxer environmental standards, and that stricter environmental standards in Canada would be in their economic interest.
Environment Probe 