Council of Canadians challenges CETA in Brussels and Strasbourg
The Council of Canadians travelled to Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France last week to raise awareness about the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the threats it poses to public water, social services and democracy.
Canadians have had no say on what the proposed deal should look like – or whether we should be negotiating at all. Leaked copies of the negotiating text and public statements about the deal make it clear that CETA offers little to Canadians while posing far too many unnecessary risks.
While in Brussels, the Council of Canadians joined other concerned organizations and union representatives as part of a Trade Justice Network delegation to encourage Members of the European Parliament to put the CETA negotiations on ice to allow for the negotiating mandate to be debated publicly in Canada and the EU.
During the week, the Council’s Director of Campaigns and Communications Brent Patterson and Trade Justice Campaigner Stuart Trew met with European civil society groups and parliamentarians to share a legal opinion on the impact CETA will have on tar sands development, as well as environmental policy more generally, and a new report on how the agreement could lead to more privatization of Canadian and EU public water systems. The report, titled Keep Europe Out of the Tar Sands!, Speaks to the massive environmental devastation in Canada caused by the tar sands and how CETA could be used to overrule positive measures aimed at restricting dirty fuels in Europe such as the fuel derived from the tar sands.
While in Brussels, Council representatives took part in a protest outside the European Commission, which was organized by the UK Tar Sands Network with participation from The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and Friends of the Earth Europe. The protest garnered national media attention in Canada, helping to raise awareness about the public’s growing concerns with the deal.
Take action!
You can take action in your community and join people across Canada who are calling on the federal government to stop CETA negotiations. Download the “Stop the Canada-EU trade negotiations” petition and take it to your friends and neighbours and ask them to sign on as well. Send copies to your local elected officials and ask that they enter the opposition into the public record.
Here’s more about what’s new at the Council of Canadians:
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PHOTO: Council of Canadians joined with Canadian allies on January 17 in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels to denounce CETA and the tar sands.
PHOTO: The Council of Canadians, CUPE, the National Farmers Union and the Indigenous Environmental Network lobbied against CETA at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on January 19. |
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Don’t know much about CETA? You’re not alone, writes Maude Barlow
Council of Canadians National Chairperson Maude Barlow writes in a recent issue of The Globe and Mail that CETA “will open up the rules, standards and public spending priorities of provinces and municipalities to direct competition and challenge from European corporations.”
She adds that “CETA will likely have a NAFTA-type investor-state enforcement mechanism, which means that European corporations will have the same right that U.S. companies now enjoy to sue the Canadian government if it introduces new rules to protect the environment. Gus Van Harten of Osgoode Hall Law School and David Schneiderman of the University of Toronto’s law faculty warn that this tool emphasizes investor protection over government policy in environmental protection, and provides a powerful new means for large corporations to frustrate regulatory initiatives without a comparable mechanism to police these same companies.”
To read the full op-ed, go here.
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Montreal Chapter calls for fracking moratorium in Quebec
The Council of Canadians’ Montreal chapter is calling for an immediate halt on fracking projects in Quebec until they can be deemed safe following the release of a report that revealed many of the fracking wells in the province are leaking dangerous amounts of methane gas.
The Concordian reports that “in December, Quebec’s Department of Natural Resources inspected 31 of the province’s brand new gas wells and found that 19 of these were leaking. The information was not released until the public watchdog agency, the bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement, made repeated requests to view the results of the inspection.”
Hydraulic fracturing – more commonly known as “fracking” – is a process where sand, water and chemicals are blasted into rock formations such as shale, coal beds and “tight” sands to gain access to trapped natural gas deposits. This injection process creates cracks in the rock formations and allows the gas to flow up the well.
Communities across Canada are asking questions about fracking as more and more projects as the industry continues to grow both in the United States and in Canada. Serious health and environmental questions are being raised about the effects of fracking on groundwater, drinking water and on people’s health.
Abdul Pirani, Council of Canadians board member and Montreal Chapter president, said safety has to come first. “First and foremost, [fracking] has to be safe – safe for the people and safe for the environment.”
To read more about the Council’s fracking campaign go here.
Win! P.E.I. government agrees to more public consultation about GE salmon export plans
 P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz has agreed to provide more public transparency on plans for U.S.-owned AquaBounty’s fish egg hatching facility that is developing advanced-hybrid salmon designed to grow faster than traditional fish.
Groups, including the Council of Canadians, have lobbied against the company’s plans to export the fish to the American market, becoming the first genetically modified food animal for sale in the world.
“‘We did get a commitment from the premier that he would play a more active, positive role in trying to get Environment Canada to be more transparent,” said Leo Broderick, Vice-Chair of the Council of Canadians and local chapter representative in a recent media report. “And so, he is going to write Environment Canada asking whether or not AquaBounty has requested approval for commercial production of GMO Atlantic salmon, salmon eggs on P.E.I. And he’s going to ask that the P.E.I. government be part of the environmental risk study. That’s very good,” said Broderick.
He added that the Premier agreed to take the group’s demands for a consultation process to the Liberal Caucus, but ultimately refused a request to declare P.E.I. a GMO-free province.
To read more go here.
PHOTO: Leo Broderick and Premier Ghiz. Credit: The Guardian photo by Mitch Macdonald.
Council joins fight to stop road expansion that will destroy pristine watershed
A 26-year old construction plan is threatening the future of the Wakefield Spring in Gatineau, Quebec. The Council of Canadians has joined the fight to put the brakes on the project.
SOS Wakefield, formed by a group of local residents, is challenging plans to expand Highway A-5, a project that will carve away a mountain top, flatten a few thousand trees before paving a pair of massive “traffic circles” across the recharge zone of the spring itself. Although this plan was devised in 1986, the Quebec government has decided that there is no need to re-examine its environmental impact.
Mark Calzavara, Ontario-Quebec Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians, was there as representatives of Ecojustice, The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and SOS Wakefield held a press conference to call for a comprehensive environmental assessment and a full public consultation on the design options for the highway extension and entrances.
Take Action!
Help stop the destruction of the Wakefield Spring. Go here to sign SOS Wakefield’s petition today.
For more information about the Council’s campaign to protect public water go here.
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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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