An excellent opinion piece by Council of Canadians’ Chairperson Maude Barlow on the dangers of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) was published in the Globe and Mail recently and it prompted a predictable response from Canada’s Trade Minister. He dragged out the old saw about how the same people who fought NAFTA (and look how “wrong” they were) are now fighting CETA.
With the upcoming meeting of
the Committee on Internal Trade (CIT) ministers in Saskatoon on December 3, a
wide cross-section of Canadian civil society groups are urging governments to
deny corporations the right to sue the provinces and territories under the
Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) as requested by a coalition of business
groups this week.
OTTAWA (October 22, 2010) – CEP was part of a group of protesters that greeted Canadian and European Union trade negotiators who were in Ottawa last week to put together a free trade pact called the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA).
Who needs Parliament when trade negotiators can change or ignore our laws?
Why do we need a Parliament when international trade negotiators can apparently change or ignore Canadian laws without reference to the people we elect to make those decisions?
We the undersigned have serious
reservations about the scope and negotiating process of the proposed
Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
We demand the following of the Government of Canada, provinces and
territories:
