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June 20, 2008 On Friday, June 20, the Council of Canadians held a mock press conference and protest outside Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier, where Republican Senator John McCain spoke to an elite audience of Canadian corporate executives about the benefits of NAFTA. “As you all know, Canada is America’s largest energy supplier,” he told the Economic Club audience. “Not only does Canada have the second largest proven oil reserves in the world, 60 percent of the energy produced in Canada is hydroelectric, clean energy. We stand much to gain by harmonizing our energy policies, just as we have gained by cooperating in trade through NAFTA.”
“NAFTA has destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs and given corporations unprecedented power to override local democracy,” she said, highlighting that U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has committed to renegotiate the trade and investment agreement. Democrats recommitted to renegotiation at a hastily organized counter-conference in Washington, according to the National Post. “When the president of the United States says ‘We are unhappy’ ... It is clear we are big enough, and strong enough, and important enough, that these negotiations will go forward,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat. Over 50 members of Congress in the U.S. are currently supporting the recently introduced TRADE Act (the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act), which calls for renegotiation of NAFTA and a slew of other unfair trade agreements. The Council of Canadians is calling on Canadian parliamentarians to support similar legislation.
“We have lost democratic control of energy under NAFTA and we may lose control over water, if the NAFTA-SPP agenda is allowed to proceed unchecked,” said Barlow.
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Outside the hotel, a “NAFTA-saurus” representing old, outdated and unjust trade policies, joined “Stephen Harper” and “John McCain” at a mock press conference organized by the Council. Maude Barlow, the Council’s national chairperson, rebuffed what “McCain” had to say about NAFTA.
“Senator McCain’s visit to Ottawa is an act of desperation aimed at stopping the increasing opposition to NAFTA in the US, Mexico, and Canada,” added Barlow. “While McCain would have Americans believe that Canadians support the reckless trade model embodied by NAFTA, the opposite is actually true. It’s time to renegotiate NAFTA, stop the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), and reject the Bush-McCain agenda of putting corporate profits before people and the planet.
