Steel Mills

Judge Can’t Reveal US Steel and Canada Agreement

May 21, 2015

US Steel can keep its secrets. Superior Court Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel ruled on Wednesday that the details of the agreement between US Steel and the government of Canada cannot be released by the court—only by the Ministry of Industry. And, so far, neither the Ministry nor US Steel is willing to reveal the contents of the “secret agreement,” much to the frustration of USW workers and pensioners at US Steel Canada and the City of Hamilton.

Superior Court Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel called the desire of the parties to have the agreement disclosed “reasonable and understandable” but wrote, “In the absences of consent by or enforcement proceedings brought by Industry Canada they are unable to obtain such information.”

The Investment Canada Act has very tight nondisclosure rules said Wilton-Siegel. “The court has no authority to override these provisions regardless of its views of the potential benefits of disclosure in the present circumstance.”

Gary Howe, president of USW Local 1005 at Hamilton Works, said the decision was “a disappointment, but not surprising.”

“It’s clear – to everyone except the federal government and U.S. Steel – that our members, our pensioners and our community deserve to know the details of this secret deal,” said Howe. “We don’t trust U.S. Steel or this government to do what’s best for us and for our community and that distrust has been reinforced once again.”

Bill Ferguson, president of USW Local 8782 at Lake Erie Works commented, “The current investment Canada Act was written in the 1930s and is in desperate need of rewrite. To imagine that in a democracy that a government and a private Company can strike a deal at the expense of the taxpayer, a deal that will impact on the citizens and taxpayer, and yet declare by law that the details are secret. That the very citizens that are directly affected, including the courts, are not allowed to know any details or even broad terms of the deal. Makes you wonder who the government is representing, big business or its constituents.”

“This decision further underscores how this legislation has been abused by successive Liberal and Conservative governments to benefit foreign multinationals at the expense of Canadian families and communities,” said Ken Neumann, National Director of the United Steelworkers (USW).

“The judge in this case confirmed that it is reasonable and potentially beneficial for Canadian workers and pensioners to have access to details of the secret deal between the government and U.S. Steel,” Neumann noted. “However, the judge’s hands are tied because the act allows the government and foreign investors to keep the public in the dark about these secret deals. It’s time to overhaul this legislation to defend the rights and interests of Canadian workers and communities.”

The agreement in question is one made between US Steel and Canada in 2011 in exchange for the government dropping a suit against US Steel for not fulfilling the obligations promised during the purchase of the former Stelco mill in 2007.