A meeting of trade ministers from some 25 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is being held in Montreal from July 28 to 30, 2003. The purpose of this meeting, dubbed a “Mini-Ministerial” by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), is to lay groundwork in preparation for the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Cancun, Mexico, from September 10 to 14, 2003.

The RQIC, on behalf of its member organizations, and the Council of Canadians wish to remind the federal Minister for International Trade, Mr. Pierre Pettigrew, who will be hosting this meeting, that the Canadian government must take this opportunity to speak out in defence of the public interest, especially since the Minister has, until now, only demonstrated his readiness to tie the hands of the federal government with respect to private investors.

Things don’t look promising for the Montreal Mini-Ministerial. First, of the WTO’s 146 member countries, only 25 have been invited to send representatives to this informal meeting, along with the representative for the European Union. Does this mean that these members will carry more weight than the others at the WTO negotiations in Cancun?

Moreover, the WTO negotiations, like those of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), clearly give the upper hand to major private investors by granting them rights that we consider abusive, on the pretext that investments made by private companies on foreign soil must be protected at all costs.

With this new round of negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the WTO is demonstrating that it is not prepared to abandon measures similar to those which helped to derail the lamentable Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). This agreement was based on investment protection provisions set forth in the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Negotiators of international trade accords perceive everything as a potential business market that must be developed and, if national investors cannot rise to the occasion, foreign investors are the solution.

Instead of continuing their crusade to conclude an agreement on investment and impose it on developing countries, wealthy nations should concentrate on implementing the Doha Development Agenda launched in November 2001 at the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference.

Lastly, as a federal Minister and Member of Parliament, the host of this meeting has the responsibility to defend and protect the public interest, not just the interests of a privileged few. In our opinion, in order to defend and protect the public interest, the Canadian government must undertake not to sign any trade agreement unless it provides for a transparent and democratic process of negotiation and adoption; safeguards the government’s power to legislate as necessary to protect the public interest, democracy and the environment; recognizes the primacy of individual and collective rights over trade and profits; and guarantees equal rights for men and women.

The member organizations of the RQIC and the Council of Canadians are not opposed to international trade – on the contrary. What worries us is that the agreements currently being negotiated, through both the WTO and the FTAA, embody far more than free trade. These agreements constitute charters that protect the rights of investors to the detriment of the rights of all other players in society. We stand opposed to a vision of liberalization that places trade above all else. We believe that trade should expand as markets dictate, but even then rights must take precedence.

The member organizations of the RQIC are:
Alternatives, Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI), Centrale des syndicats démocratiques (CSD), Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), Centre de formation populaire, Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO), Quebec Environmental Law Centre, Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Metropolitan Montreal Central Council (CCMM-CSN), CUSO-Québec, Development and Peace, Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ), Fédération des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec (FIIQ), Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ), Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ), Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ), Groupe de recherche sur l’intégration continentale (GRIC-UQAM), Civil Liberties Union, Réseau québécois des groupes écologistes (RQGE), Syndicat des professionnelles et professionnels du gouvernement du Québec (SPGQ).