MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
October 19, 2009

McGuinty signs another secret trade agreement in Whitehorse: When will the Premier come clean with Ontarians about his trade agenda, asks Council of Canadians

Toronto, October 19, 2009 – Premier Dalton McGuinty has signed yet another interprovincial trade agreement, this one covering agriculture, without first consulting with affected groups or including the Ontario legislature and broader public in the discussion, notes the Council of Canadians.

“Premier McGuinty should not have the right to bind Ontarians to the terms of obscure trade agreements, negotiated in secret, which then become law without so much as a government white paper, let alone a legislative review,” says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “This is unacceptable, especially considering this new generation of internal and international trade agreements will impact our cities and communities most.”

In Whitehorse last week, Canada’s premiers signed off on a controversial new agriculture chapter within the Agreement on Internal Trade (1995). The new chapter threatens to outlaw the promotion of local food by provincial and municipal governments for the alleged distorting effects these policies have on interprovincial trade. Quebec farmers are also concerned the new chapter will put pressure on Quebec to lower its standards on organic foods, which some consider the highest in North America. The process by which stronger food policies in one province will be dismantled is through private dispute panel rulings that, once the AIT’s new dispute chapter is itself ratified, will result in crippling financial penalties against offending provincial policies.

“The thrust of current AIT and other interprovincial negotiations is to formally reduce the scope of acceptable government intervention into the economy and society more generally,” explains Barlow. “Always business flows are prioritized. Environmental protection, job creation and now ‘buy local’ policies at City Hall are to be phased out based on a blind faith in so called open markets.”

Barlow is currently touring Ontario with CUPE Ontario President Sid Ryan to discuss interprovincial and international trade agreements with communities. The following agreements have been signed or endorsed by the McGuinty government with absolutely no prior public dialogue:

• The Ontario–Quebec Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed on September 15 and came into force, without debate, on October 1
• The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which McGuinty has endorsed at the executive level
• The proposed “Buy American” deal on local procurement that the Harper government has presented to the United States

Barlow and Ryan will discuss these agreements at a public event in Toronto on Tuesday, October 20, 7 p.m., at the Victoria College Chapel, 91 Charles Street West, 2nd Floor, Room 213. John Cartwright of the Toronto and District Labour Council will also speak.

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For more information, contact:

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685