MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
February 11, 2010

Council of Canadians and CUPE release leaked ‘Buy American’ agreement

Toronto – The Council of Canadians and Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario released today the official text of the Canada-U.S. procurement (‘Buy American’) agreement and are demanding that the provinces delay signing it until they have consulted publicly on its potential impacts. The documents are available to media upon request.

“The provinces are only days away from agreeing, without public support, to be permanently and legally bound by WTO rules that restrict and sometimes ban ‘buy local’ and other important economic development policies,” said Stuart Trew, trade campaigner with the Council of Canadians, at a press conference in Toronto. “It’s even worse that they are tying their hands and those of future generations for as little as $4 billion-worth in potential, not guaranteed, U.S. government contracts. This isn’t a deal, it’s a sellout.”

The leaked government documents released today outline Canada’s new commitments to the United States under the WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) – a plurilateral contract within the WTO signed by only 40 countries. The GPA goes beyond enforcing non-discrimination between companies in its member states. The agreement forbids listed national and subnational governments and agencies from including any condition or undertaking on government contracts. Policies that encourage local development, such as the use of domestic content, the licensing of technology, investment requirements or similar action will be banned.

“Ontario, or any province for that matter, would not be where they are economically today without these discretions on how they spend public money,” explained Trew. “By signing Prime Minister Harper’s ‘Buy American’ deal the premiers will be giving up important and often well-used economic and social policy tools for provinces, cities and in some cases universities, school boards, social service entities and hospitals. Ministerial promises that this deal is economically beneficial ring hollow.”

As an example, Trew described a scenario where a hospital or group of hospitals wanted to purchase medical equipment. The hospital would be unable to consider any offset, such as investment in the community or a transfer of technology, when making its final decision. Winning bids will be determined on cost considerations only or else they will be challenged through binding WTO dispute procedures. The McGuinty government, for example, recognized this when it excluded the Green Energy Act from the WTO commitments but he needs to explain to Ontarians why other sectors are less deserving of local investment, said Trew.

“We all should have seen this deal six months ago, not two days before it’s too late to do anything about it,” Trew added. “Harper may not care much for democratic process, but it is unacceptable that the provinces would commit future generations to senseless bans on ‘buy local’ and other development policies. The premiers owe it to all of us to step away from this proposed ‘Buy American’ deal until they have a democratic mandate to continue.”

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For More Information:

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

ACTION ALERT: Provinces must walk away from bad Buy American deal!