(OTTAWA) As International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew prepares to appear before a House of Commons committee, Canadian unions, environmentalists and activists worry that Canada may once again be sold out in elaborate negotiations over a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Instead the broad coalition of groups insist that the new FTAA should promote fair trading practices and incorporate strong protections for workers, human rights and the environment.

Despite promises of public consultation on the content of the FTAA, reports circulate that ministers are close to a final text of an agreement.

"The presentation of the minister's plans for a new free trade deal so quickly after massive protests in Seattle, Washington and Windsor shows that the federal government is not interested in listening to the concerns of ordinary Canadians," said Tony Clarke, Vice Chair of the Council of Canadians. "When Canadians protested the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF it was to send a strong message that the old way of doing deals was no longer acceptable."

"There should be no FTAA if it does not include a social agenda if it does not include protection of the environment and respect for workers and human rights," said Hassan Yussuff, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. "Any agreement should have respect for - and improvement of - the social and economic rights of workers, women, small farmers, indigenous peoples and migrant workers."

"Proposing FTAA early harvest agreements in forests, energy and fisheries is bad news for the environment." Said Elizabeth May Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada. "The NAFTA environmental side deal hasn't worked, and still the government continues to say that free trade and protecting the environment go hand in hand. This has never been shown to be true."

The FTAA proposal also includes another provision for investor-state dispute mechanisms. "Since the Canadian and US governments snuck in a provision for investor-state disputes in the NAFTA, Canadians have paid millions of dollars to foreign corporations, and many more corporations are waiting to challenge Canadian regulations and interests," said Peter Julian, Executive Director of the Council of Canadians.

Read Canada's For Sale Notice.