New CETA documents leaked this morning.

The Trade Justice Network has in it's possession newly leaked documents detailing Canada's initial services and investment offers to the EU in the nearly completed free trade negotiations. The documents, which were previously secret but leaked this morning by the Quebec Network on Continental Integration have been posted on the Trade Justice Network site for all to read.I haven't had a chance to read them yet so I have no idea what they contain but if they are anything like the ones in the original leak they could be explosive.

A Little Juxtaposition on Trade

Canada isn't the only country the EU has been negotiating a comprehensive trade and investment pact with, parallel talks have been ongoing with India on a remarkably similar deal. So I've found it interesting to look in on those discussions from time to time for comparison purposes. It seems there is one significant difference  between the two and that is that India is driving a much harder bargain with the EU than our government has.

EU trade talks with India have stalled as India attempts to protect it's auto sector and is reluctant to cede on EU demands for increased drug patents and access to government procurement, all of which Harper and his cabal seem to have no concerns about giving away in their zeal to see CETA come to fruition. Granted India is in a stronger position than we are as the EU needs and covets access to the Indian market,as for Canada not so much.

In fact Harper is all too willing to give the EU virtually everything they want, which is of no surprise as our government is among the most rabid of neoliberals on the planet. So in the end it appears there will either be no EU/India deal or one that is more favourable to India than the one Canadians will be stuck with.

The Silent Destruction of Canadians Ability to Govern Themselves

Little by little through trade and security deals such as CETA and Beyond Borders we are losing the ability to make our own decisions regarding the governance of our country. Yet despite the profound effect these and other such agreements have on our lives we are given no say whatsoever in the process.Even worse,we are kept in the dark, often not even aware that negotiations are being held until they are fait accompli.

One such event happened at the WTO in December where Canada agreed along with the US,EU and several other nations to open up government procurement to foreign competition.

The World Trade Organisation’s negotiations on government procurement concluded successfully on 15 December after the Parties of the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) reached an agreement on an updated set of tender rules and additional market access commitments. The GPA covers trade in the domain of public procurement worth 500 billion Euros globally annually. According to WTO estimates, the revision of the GPA will bring extra procurement opportunities worth around 100 billion Euros.

It is believed that not just federal but provincial and municipal procurement is on the table in the now almost completed CETA talks and this agreement confirms that fear as Harper offered them up in this WTO agreement.

New market access opportunities: The EU and U.S. expanded access to their central level entities, including important US Federal agencies. Canada offered access to procurement of its Provinces and Territories. Korea provides access to railway and urban transport procurement and Japan offered access to Public private partnerships and construction projects. Israel committed to phase out its offsets schedules and to lower its construction thresholds.

Slowly but surely,well not so slowly under Harper,in the backrooms of fancy hotels and resorts, our right to govern ourselves is being farmed out to unelected bodies in foreign lands. It is long past time that we put an end to this neoliberal nightmare.

No Mr Harper Free Trade Does Not Improve Human Rights Part 2

In August of last year while on a tour of South America, most notable for his bathroom misadventures, Harper signed a free trade agreement with the leaders of the Honduran coup. In justifying his actions Harper stated that the agreement would lead to an improved human rights atmosphere for the Honduran people.

Well as any semi intelligent person can tell you that when poor farmers are being slaughered to make way for the nations rich palm oil plantation owners and Canadian tourist operators, increasing the market for their product can only lead to even more of the same. As of course it has,but Harper knew this at the time, oh well, what's a few peasant lives when there are profits to be made.

 As the LA Times and Rights Action have pointed out Honduras is now known as the murder capital of the world. Quite a distinction for one of Canada's trading partners and military allies.

Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world, according to the United Nations, and its government has long been plagued by allegations of corruption and human rights abuses. A 2009 military coup deepened political rifts and eroded public trust in democratic institutions. And a recent Human Rights Watch report found that officials have yet to bring to justice many of those allegedly responsible for violations committed after the coup.

No Mr Harper Free Trade Does Not Improve Human Rights

Canada's Free Trade in Oppression 

More free trade in oppression: Honduras: The Deadliest Place in the World for a Journalist 

An Open Letter To Harper From The Women Of Honduras

Troubling questions about CETA 's impact on municipalities

As negotiations between Canada and the EU near their completion we still don't know many of the details as our government only sees fit to brief business interests on them, but what we do know is extremely troubling. CETA in the governments own words is the "most robust" trade and investment agreement we have ever entered into. It's scope reaching for the first time into municipal and provincial jurisdictions.

For those not familiar with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) here is a primer

The Columbia Institute's  Centre for Civic Governance has taken what we do know,including the leaked text and sought a legal opinion on it's potential impacts on municipalities which pretty much confirms what opponents of CETA have been saying.

Here are some of the highlights from that report titled  Municipalities and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) 101

Prohibit municipalities from restricting tender calls to local or Canadian companies or
requiring that bidders use some proportion of local or Canadian goods, services or
labour. This would essentially end the ability of municipalities to use procurement as
a local economic or social development tool;

Prohibit municipalities from using procurement for strategic purposes, such as creating
or supporting a market for innovative goods and services, including green
technologies if the effect would favour Canadian producers or attract investment to
Canada;

Prohibit municipalities from using procurement for sustainable development purposes such as promoting food security by adopting “buy local” food practices.


Big European drug corporations may gain extended patent rights, resulting in massive cost increases for Canadian drug plans, including $1.3-billion per year on taxpayer-funded public drug plans and $1.5 billion on private drug plans.

Hydro Quebec researchers warn that CETA‟s procurement chapter could limit the ability of government agencies to use public spending to achieve goals such as economic development and regional employment. If CETA had been in place in 2003, Quebec would likely not have been able to insist on 60 per cent provincial content in wind projects. Local content requirements under Ontario‟s Clean Energy Act could face similar problems under CETA (Note: The EU has already challenged Ontario's Clean Energy Act at the WTO.)

The legal opinion warns that CETA would require municipalities to shoulder administrative costs associated with:

Providing the federal government with information and statistics about their procurement practices and activities:

Publishing detailed notices and announcements of intended procurements;

 Issuing tenders in accordance with CETA procedures and technical specifications;

Accounting to unsuccessful suppliers for their procurement decisions; and

Defending their actions if challenged, before domestic administrative, judicial and appellate bodies

The opinion also found that proposed CETA rules could slow or derail procurement processes by forcing municipalities to

Provide unsuccessful EU bidders with sufficient time to appeal their decisions;

Contend with an order suspending the procurement pending the resolution of such an appeal; or

Pay damages to an unsuccessful bidder or bidders where [municipalities] fail to comply with CETA rules.

More free trade in oppression: Honduras: The Deadliest Place in the World for a Journalist

On Friday August 12,2011, While on a state visit to Honduras,the first by any leader since the coup, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the signing of a free trade deal with  the Lobos government. In announcing this agreement Harper contended that while Honduras had some issues ,free trade would solve them bringing democracy freedom and prosperity to Honduras. Of course he didn't say who would accrue those benefits


 

10 Reasons Why CETA is Bad for Canada

"You can basically say that almost everything in the economy is up for discussion" Peter Van Loan

This video from the folks at NAURESISTANCE.org highlights some of the dangers to Canada posed by the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) For more info on CETA see The Trade Justice Network and  The Council of Canadians

No Mr Harper Free Trade Does Not Improve Human Rights

In justifying the signing of free trade agreements with Columbia and Honduras Harper sloughed off human rights concerns by stating that one of the ancillary benefits of open trade is that it improves the conditions in these nations resulting in an improved human rights climate. Perhaps we should ask the Mexican people if that is true or not.

The country is going through a disastrous situation. The imperialist pillaging and exploitation which the country suffers has grown to levels that are leading to a national catastrophe … At the moment, poverty affects 70 percent of the national population. Life in the indigenous communities and in the slums surrounding the cities is hell. Meanwhile, the oligarchs accumulate incredible riches through the exploitation of workers and the sacking of the national resources and public and social property. Mexican Labor News & Analysis August , 2011, Vol. 16, No. 8

Mexico joined with the US and Canada in signing the NAFTA in 1994, and the picture isn't a pretty one. In Mexico as in other agrarian societies there is a need to create a pool of labour to work in all those new sweat shops, this is accomplished by flooding their markets with cheap subsidised staples. In Mexico's case it was US corn, in Haiti it was rice, but the results are the same. Masses of people no longer able to sustain themselves off the land forced to migrate to the cities in search of work in the factories.

At the same time government is privatised resulting in massive job losses , increased deficits causing huge cuts to services,and it seems education is always a prime target. Add these together and you get a fractured society, one where many have lost their sense of self and almost always a more violent one.

More than 15 years ago, we were told that NAFTA would create a thriving middle class in Mexico … and government officials said that the agreement would lead to growing trade surpluses and that hundreds of thousands of jobs would be gained. As our friends from Mexico can attest, NAFTA did not bring these benefits. Instead, workers’ rights are being violated on a regular basis, and both the U.S. and Mexico are worse off for it. Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine)

However there is one more thing we can count on and that is eventually the people of these nations fight back some with success some not but resist they do.

On Tuesday, September 13, hundreds of members of the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME) and their supporters ended a six-month occupation of the Zócalo, the main plaza in Mexico City, in an apparent agreement regarding the government’s selling off and shutting down of the state-owned light and power utility—which caused 44,000 workers to lose their jobs.

No Wonder Harper Wants Us Kept In The Dark On CETA

While our government continues to refuse to let the Canadian public in on the details of the current negotiations toward finalizing the Comprehensive Economic & Trade Agreement (CETA) with the EU, they have no such qualms when it comes to Business and it's lobbyists. In late July they sent a representative to a luncheon held by the  European Union Chamber of Commerce in Toronto to brief them on the status of the talks.

Thanks to this luncheon we now have a better picture of what is in play and it isn't a pretty one. For instance it appears that they have reached an agreement on local procurement meaning local content provisions in government purchases and programs such as Ontario's green energy initiative will be barred. No surprise here as this is an issue the EU is very hawkish on, having already referred the issue to the WTO

Exports from the EU into Canada in wind power and photovoltaic power generation equipment are significant, ranging from 300 to 600 million € in 2007-2009. These figures could be higher should the local content requirements be removed from the legislation in question. The EU is also increasingly concerned by such measures taken by other trading partners.

The EU is also very keen on gaining favourble access to the urban transit systems and power generating equipment sectors as well.

Pharmaceuticals are another area of keen interest by Europe, wanting increased intellectual property (IP) protection for patents and pharmaceutical exclusivity periods,hence the Harper governments desire to pass updated copyright laws currently before Parliament. This will cost governments and employers that provide prescription drug coverage to their employees dearly.

Canada has also taken the position that provisions in CETA regarding the services and investment sectors including financial services  need to move beyond those in NAFTA 

Our government is also interested in garnering an agreement on labour mobility making it easier for professionals to gain temporary entry. Given the extent with which the Harper government has expanded temporary workers programs,we can guess where that one is headed.

There does appear to be some areas that they are having difficulty coming to terms on, for the EU it's Canada's  proposal for a negative-list trade approach in which all sectors and services will be automatically included unless explicitly excluded in the agreement. The EU appears more comfortable with the  traditional positive-list system in which only those sectors and services actually cited in the agreement would be included.

They are also having some difficulty coming to terms on rules surrounding the of origin of goods, especially those in the auto sector. Canada wants an agreement that reflect the reality of North American wide sourcing. For the EU, their  focus is on agriculture and fish plus wine and spirits. 

“We hope to get through the most difficult and sensitive issues by year end,” says the official. “There will be last-minute issues to be resolved.  But we expect to mop them up by early 2012.

“Both sides want to get this agreement done.”

The next round is slated to be held in Ottawa sometime in October.

.

An Open Letter To Harper From The Women Of Honduras

OPEN LETTER
Choloma, Cortés, August 12, 2011
TO:
The Right Honourable Stephen Joseph Harper, Prime Minister of Canada;
Mr. Porfirio Lobo Sosa, President of Honduras;
Mr. Africo Madrid, Secretary of State for the Interior;
The International Community;
Especially to the Honduran people:

The Honduran Women’s Collective, CODEMUH, has continually and systematically produced information about the vulnerable position faced by workers in the maquila industry in Honduras, about the violation of human and labour rights, and the damages done to the health of workers by their work activities, especially in the company Gildan Activewear, a transnational company owned by Canadians. This information has been given to governments and the entities responsible for labour law enforcement in Honduras; national and international social movements and organizations; human rights protection systems; and the Fair Labour Association (FLA).

We have taken our cases to judicial bodies, both national and international, using legal channels in a responsible way. We have used international and inter-American systems, investigating, documenting, informing, publicizing, raising awareness and presenting proposals so that the entities responsible for applying justice would act. These entities should implement monitoring, follow up and prevention actions for effective protection that ensures human and labour rights for the working population. In addition, we have alerted these bodies to the fact that Gildan Activewear is violating the Constitution of the Honduran Republic and other labour laws, by implementing long workdays and a system of unachievable production quotas.

Prime Minister Harper, there have been constant reports of Canadian company Gildan Activewear’s anti-organizing and anti-union policies, among other labour violations. For example, Gildan El Progreso in Honduras closed in 2004 to avoid the certification of a union, and recently in the Dominican Republic there have been reports of the same policies with regards to the trade union there. Other reports have surfaced of violations of other human and labour rights of workers, such as the right to live without violence, the right to work, health and life.
                                                                                                                                                                      Presently, Gildan Activewear is contravening the legal regulations for labour, with regards to treaties and
international conventions that protect occupational health and safety, by implementing 4x4 shifts in their factories, where workers work for 4 days straight, 11.5 hours per day, and then have 4 days off. With this system, it’s common that on their days off, workers do extra hours, up to 2 day shifts or 2 night shifts. This means that the work week can be 69 hours long, with a salary of $89.99 US Dollars (L$1700 Lempiras)per week.                                                                                                                                                                                     
The production goals or quotas imposed by Gildan Activewear are the highest in the industry in Honduras. To earn $89.99 per week, workers have to produce 550 dozen pieces every day, and are exposed to awkward postures, executing up to 40,000 repetitive movements in their joints, tendons, and muscles per day. These conditions produce Occupational Musculoskeletal Injuries (MSI). There is clear exploitation of workers in poor countries, juxtaposed with reporting that sales have been high during the 2011 fiscal year. In Honduras, Gildan does not pay taxes because they are exempt, so it is absurd when we see that a company with such a high level of exploitation of the work force has been applauded as one of the 50 best Canadian corporations and one of the 20 most responsible companies.

Based on these problems, workers from Gildan Activewear who are members of CODEMUH have presented proposals, and have asked the national authorities of the Labour and Social Security Secretariat to do an ergonomic inspection and evaluation of the textile and clothing manufacturing companies.
                                                                                                                                                                           CODEMUH has also presented thematic reports to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Rights to Highest Attainable Standard of Physical, Mental Health. We have also presented a complaint to the Fair Labour Association, denouncing the dangerous conditions for safety, hygiene, lack of ergonomics and work organization, low salaries, lack of pay for overtime and other benefits, as well as discrimination and workplace harassment.

.CODEMUH has received complaints from more than 100 workers at Gildan Activewear. Of this group, 20 workers have rulings for a change in workstations, recommending a prohibition of repetitive movements in their shoulders, ifting their arms above shoulder level, alternating seated and standing postures, and performance of exercises every 2 hours. As well, 15 workers have received rulings qualifying their Occupational Risks with a Partial Damage Percentage given as a result of an occupational injury, all of them with MSIs. These rulings have been given by the Honduran Social Security Institute. This shows that work conditions and work organization damage the health of workers, especially with relation to the length of the work day and production goal system.
                                                                                                                                                                            Given these facts, Mr. Prime Minister, and considering that your visit to Honduras is to promote a bilateral Free Trade Agreement between Honduras and Canada, we propose the following:
1. The Free Trade agreements that Honduras has signed with “first world” or “developed” countries, especially North American countries, have only brought higher levels of discrimination, labour exploitation, accidents and occupational illnesses, as well as making the working population poorer, especially young women.

2. Free Trade Agreements are conceived and designed fundamentally so that transnational companies and their registered brands can exploit the working population and produce huge profits, totally oblivious to the fact that in order to obtain their production and profits, there are people, women and men, who risk their lives, and that there are labour and human rights laws that must be respected. We demand that you ask promptly for a report on labour and human rights conditions for the women and men who work at Gildan Activewear installations in Honduras; and that the Canadian government monitors working conditions for workers with Canadian transnationals.

The Canadian government must force companies to comply with national laws, international conventions and international treaties to do with human and labour rights and corporate social responsibility. As well, companies must perform ergonomic studies of work stations with the active participation of workers and organizations with experience in occupational health and safety, such as CODEMUH, with the objective of correcting any deficiencies.

Taking into account that for Honduras, Free Trade Agreements have meant higher levels of exploitation, of labour nd human rights violations, loss of job sources, higher labour risks, deepening of poverty and other problems: we denounce and condemn that Honduras is proceeding to ratify a bilateral Free Trade Agreement with Canada without even studying the impacts of CAFTA.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                Jobs Yes, BUT WITH DIGNITY!

For more information:
CODEMUH: 011-504-2669-1180
Maria Luisa Regalado, General Coordinator, mobile: 011-504-9620-2032 or 011-504-3314-9354
Email: mujeresfem@codemuh.123.hn

Canada's Free Trade in Oppression

On June 28th 2009 the democratically elected Manuel Zelaya government was overthrown by the Honduran military.Zelaya was preparing to rewrite Honduras' constitution that was drafted by a previous US backed military dictatorship and institute land reforms granting land titles to the nations poor farmers known as the Campesinos. Both moves were opposed by the nations ultra rich palm plantation owners, who have laid claim to this land.

The coup and subsequent fraudulent elections has lead to a popular movement to restore democracy, redraft the constitution,and enact land reform the very things Zelaya was elected to do. The government and the wealthy plantation owners of course have reacted violently to put down the peoples movement. In fact last year Honduras was ranked as the most dangerous nation for journalists. Plantation owners have openly murdered Campesinos and movement leaders with legally mandated impunity.



This is where Canada enters the picture.Along with the US,Canada is one of the leading nations in the whitewashing of the coup.But it's involvement doesn't stop there, Canada helps provide training and funding to the Honduran National police who burn crops and destroy whole Campesino villages clearing the way for the plantation owners to reclaim the land.



But wait it gets worse,Canada is holding out $700 million in economic development and a possible free trade deal with one of the poorest nations in South America in exchange for favourable changes in Honduras' mining laws which will benefit Canadian mining companies who have a brutal record of polluting the countryside with such poisons as cyanide.

Canadian tourism interests are also in the violent land grab business. Kidnapping, threats murder and the odd massacre are being used to clear the to way build a $15 million port in the coastal city of Trujillo to receive cruise ships and to build a four-park tourist attraction that includes hotels, a shopping centre, and more.

In November 2009, 5 months after the military coup, Rights Action reported on a letter writing campaign initiated by pro-coup North Americans living on Honduras’ north coast and the Bay Islands – including Roatan -, to pressure the US and Canadian governments to effectively support the coup, by legitimizing the post-coup regime led by Roberto Micheletti. (See Rights Action’s Alert #89 “Pro-Coup North Americans in Honduras”, www.rightsaction.org).

Wait there's more,Gildan Activewear of Montreal, a major supplier to Canadian and American universities operates sweatshops in Honduras where workers toil under horrendous conditions. Crippling injuries are common among the women who toil there, once injured they are cast out to fend for themselves,often no longer able to work in order to feed their families.

Tomorrow Our incontinent PM visits Honduras in the hope of expanding this relationship,sure hard to be a proud Canadian these days isn't it.

For more info on Harper's visit to Honduras and what's at stake see Rights Action - August 8, 2011 HONDURAS - Canadian Investment & Business Alert

UPDATE: On Aug. 4, the Lobo government of Honduras approved the entry of Canadian soldiers into the country to take part in a joint training exercise, as such we will be sending 150 soldiers to work alongside the military of one of the most illegitimate and oppressive regimes in the world

On Friday August 12,2011, While on a state visit to Honduras,the first by any leader since the coup, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the signing of a free trade deal with  the Lobos government . This deal still needs to be ratified, however that is a mere formality. One more consequence of giving Harper a majority government

UPDATE II:
An Open Letter To Harper From The Women Of Honduras