Fighting for Fairer Trade – At Home and Around the World
The Council of Canadians has a long history of standing up for progressive values that include fair trade, protection of human rights and economic improvements for everyone – not just corporations and their shareholders.
Recently we have been continuing that work by speaking out against the proposed Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which will be considered by Parliament in the fall. Specifically we oppose the human rights violations taking place in Colombia and argue that Canada shouldn’t consider “free” trade with a country where more than two million people have been displaced from their resource rich territories, while thousands of trade unionists, peasants, indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians and activists have been killed by the state and affiliated paramilitary organizations. We signed a letter with prominent Canadians and organizations calling on the Opposition Liberals to defeat the enactment bill.
Earlier this month we also called for an immediate halt of Bill C-24, the implementation legislation of the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement, following reports of the deaths of protesters at the hands of Peruvian police. While the Canadian government eventually voted in favour of the bill, our members and chapter activists were successful in raising awareness and asking serious questions about the human and environmental price of this trade agreement. Reports confirmed that Indigenous led protests against the agreement and legislation that would liberalize and weaken regulations and allow for the rapid industrialization of the Amazon rainforest were met with brutal opposition by the Peruvian government. Violent clashes resulted in the deaths of 60 Indigenous people and Peruvian police. Police are accused by Indigenous leadership, community members, and the international advocacy group Amazon Watch of burning bodies and of removing wounded from hospital to hide the real number of casualties. Following the protests four free trade decrees issued by Peru President Alan Garcia have been revoked, which is seen as a victory for Indigenous people’s push for change. Seven more decrees are still being opposed. |
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The Council of Canadians along with concerned Albertans gathered at the headquarters of Petrolifera Petroleum on
June 12, 2009.
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"Is this the kind of development the Harper government is trying to encourage by signing a free trade deal with Peru?" asked Stuart Trew, Trade Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. "Canadians would be appalled to learn that rights and environmental protection measures are being sacrificed to enrich Calgary's oil patch."
Along with the Rainforest Action Network, The Council of Canadians raised awareness about how Canadian-based companies will benefit from the Canada-Peru trade agreement by staging a “die-in” in front of Petrolifera Petroleum Ltd. in Calgary, Alberta. Protesters called for a halt to the company’s activities in Peru and held photographs in commemoration of slain Indigenous protestors.
“This is not just an Indigenous issue or a Peruvian issue. The massive presence of Canadian resource companies like Petrolifera in Peru and the fact that laws are being bent or broken to satisfy their bottom line should concern all of us,” said Sheila Muxlow, prairie regional organizer for the Council of Canadians. “We join with the peoples of Peru in speaking out against a free trade model that will only perpetuate the destruction of the Amazon, the theft of Indigenous lands, and the continued trampling on human rights.”
To read more about our actions in support of fair trade go here.
Here’s more about what’s new at the Council of Canadians:
Rallying to Stop Site 41
The Council of Canadians is rallying on July 4 to stop a dump from being built on top of a pristine aquifer. Known as “Site 41,” the landfill will be built just outside Tiny Township on the Alliston Aquifer, near Georgian Bay, Ontario.
On the morning of July 4 hundreds of people will gather and walk to the site, and at 1 p.m., we will join with members of the peaceful aboriginal women's protest camp – which has been erected across from Site 41 since mid May – at a concert to celebrate the water and send a strong message to Simcoe County officials who have the power to halt the construction that on Site 41.
Community members have fought tirelessly against the Site 41 project for more than 15 years. Despite significant opposition, the dump is scheduled to open this fall and construction or “de-watering” of the site has begun. Now, more than ever, we need to support the community, help to oppose the dump site, and say there is No Water to Waste!
Get involved! For more information about our July 4 event, to sign the petition to stop Site 41, or other ideas of how you can help go here.
Council Asks Tough Questions about Water Bottling Company
When Aquablue International announced it was setting up shop in Smiths Falls, Ontario, the Council of Canadians was ready with some tough questions. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to ask them.
The bottling company held a press conference recently in Smiths Falls, a small town located about 45 minutes outside of Ottawa, Ontario. A Council representative requested – and was denied – access to the event. We were hoping to get answers to questions such as: Where will the water for the manufacturing and bottling come from? How much water does Aquablue plan to extract? Has there been an environmental assessment on the company’s plans and will it be made public?
"What is Aquablue trying to hide from the public?" asks Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians and senior advisor on water to the President of the UN General Assembly. "As we deal with a fresh water crisis in Canada, it is crucial for there to be transparency and public consultation over the allocation of water resources.”
 The Council of Canadians has been campaigning to raise awareness about the problems associated with bottled water – from the high volume of water waste to manufacture and produce bottles, to the drain on watersheds, to the fossil fuels required to produce and transport water.Instead of being bottled and sold at an incredibly inflated price, we argue that water should be a shared resource, available to all.
As Maude Barlow points out in a recently released report Working Together to Unbottle It!, “bottled water operations drain local aquifers and lakes and are a major source of depletion of the springs that feed watersheds and rivers around the world. Because the industry requires a plant be built near the source, it engages in a practice called ‘water mining’ – removing all the water from a specific site and then moving on.”
To read more about media reports on Aquablue’s plans visit our Campaign Blog.
WIN! FCM passes resolution on impact of trade deals on municipalities
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) voted in favour of a resolution on the impact of trade deals on municipal governments at their annual meeting earlier this month.
The Council of Canadians has been actively working with municipal representatives to raise awareness about internal trade deals such as the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), which was signed by provincial Premiers in 1995 with the goal of reducing or eliminating barriers to the movement of goods, services and investments between provinces. Under the AIT, a province could challenge, on behalf of itself, an individual or corporation, policies it considered a barrier to trade in any other province. These “barriers” are actually public policy decisions: social programs, environmental protection legislation, local business subsidies and other rules and measures designed to protect communities from runaway private development.
Recognizing the potential threat to a local decision-making process, the FCM passed this resolution that requires “open public consultation before negotiating any internal or international trade and security agreement,” including municipal input through FCM. The resolution also commits the federation to further researching and monitoring of the effects of trade deals on municipalities.
To read more of our recent wins go here.
Council’s Annual General Meeting headed to Saint John, New Brunswick
Mark October 23-25 on your calendars – the Council of Canadians' annual general meeting is headed to the east coast! We will be hosting our 24th annual meeting that weekend at the Hilton Hotel in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Canada’s Atlantic region is an area – like many across Canada – that is feeling the pain of the recent economic downturn. The focus of this year’s meeting will be on sharing alternative visions for our economic future; ideas that focus on people, the environment, democracy and equality. We will look at how the current failed economic model, which is based on market priorities, has led to economic instability and uncertainty for families with job losses, rising costs and protection for fossil fuel industries that have devastating effects on the environment. We will talk about ways to pressure governments to recognize the need for change and opportunities to create a just economy for people and the planet.
We hope you will join us.
For more information about our upcoming annual meeting go here.
Raising security concerns about Enhanced Driver’s Licenses
We continue to point out the risks associated with Enhanced Driver’s Licenses – a so-called “security mechanism provincial governments are considering that could put your personal information at risk.
In an op-ed published in The Toronto Star earlier this month, Stuart Trew, Council of Canadians Trade Campaigner, and Roch Tassé, coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, raised questions about the security of these new licenses including: “why introduce a new citizenship document specific to the Canada-U.S. border when the internationally recognized passport will do the trick? Or, as even the smart-card industry wonders, why include technology used for monitoring the movement of livestock and other commodities in a citizenship document? More crucially, why ignore calls from Canada's federal and provincial privacy commissioners, as well as groups like the civil liberty groups to put a freeze on ‘enhanced’ licences until they can be adequately debated and assessed by Parliament? It's not as if there's nothing to talk about.”
To read the full op-ed go here.
Join the Council of Canadians today!
Founded in 1985 by a handful of citizens including Farley Mowat, Pierre Berton and Margaret Atwood, the Council of Canadians is Canada’s pre-eminent public watchdog organization. By becoming a member of the Council of Canadians your generous support helps give our organization a voice on social, economic and political issues and build a strong, independent and diverse Canada. Join the Council today, and help us prove that a better Canada is possible. Already a member? Share this newsletter with a friend and encourage them to join or donate and become a part of Canada’s largest citizens’ advocacy organization. |
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The Trade Blog is written by Stuart Trew, the Council of Canadians’ Trade Campaigner.