MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2006

Softwood settlement exposes failures of NAFTA

“Prime Minister Harper’s efforts to negotiate a deal with the U.S. yesterday shows NAFTA’s dispute settlement mechanism is ineffective and proves the agreement does not work for Canadians,” says Jean-Yves Lefort, trade campaigner for the Council of Canadians.

Despite the fact that Canada has won several NAFTA panel rulings on this issue, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pursued negotiations with the Bush Administration and has reportedly agreed to place a cap on Canada's share of the softwood lumber market in the United States.

“The Canadian government signed NAFTA thinking it would ensure access to the American market and guarantee an impartial dispute settlement mechanism. This framework agreement on softwood lumber shows that we have neither,” says Lefort.

“NAFTA has failed in its promise to level the playing field and now the federal government wants to compound that failure by submitting to the Bush Administration's self-serving refusal to recognize NAFTA panel rulings on softwood lumber.”

As the Harper government seeks to deepen Canada's economic and political ties to the United States through the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, the Council of Canadians calls on the prime minister to recognize the unwillingness of, in his words, Canada's "best friend" to abide by international agreements.

Asks Lefort: “If the United States won't respect NAFTA, what makes Prime Minister Harper think they will act any differently under the Security and Prosperity Partnership negotiated at the recent Cancun meeting of the three NAFTA leaders?”

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For more information, please contact:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249; 1-800-387-7177, ext. 249; .