PEI chapter activist Leo Broderick leads a Council of Canadians protest against the TPP in Charlottetown on March 31. CBC News photo by Stephanie Kelly.
Council of Canadians chapter activists across the country are mobilizing against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Beyond our interventions at the “consultations” in various cities – Vancouver, Montreal, Regina, Winnipeg, St. John’s, Guelph and Charlottetown – that featured either trade minister Chrystia Freeland or parliamentary secretary David Lametti, and the cross-country tour we have organized with Dr. Shiv Chopra speaking against the deal, we have also started to mobilize around the “hearings” announced by the House of Commons standing committee on international trade that will take place on:
April 18 – Vancouver
April 19 – Calgary
April 20 – Saskatoon
April 21 – Winnipeg
With respect to those hearings:
Vancouver – we are partnering with OpenMedia and other allies to have a 16 foot Jumbotron outside the Radisson Hotel Vancouver Airport where the hearings will take place, to send your message to be displayed on that Jumbotron, please click here; two chapter activists have also applied to appear at these hearings, but have not heard back yet from the committee clerk.
Calgary – chapter activist Matthew Young will be presenting on our behalf
In addition, the Peterborough chapter has been writing to the committee to demand that hearings on the TPP also take place in their community.
Beyond the hearings, the committee has stated, “Canadians who wish to provide a written submission must do so before 23:59 EDT on April 30th, 2016. Written submissions are to be no more than 1,500 words. More information on the process for providing a written submission can be found in the Guide for Submitting Briefs to House of Commons Committees. Written submissions should be emailed to: ciit-tpp-ptp@parl.gc.ca.”
On this front, the St. John’s chapter will be making a formal submission in writing to the committee. They have also developed both a PowerPoint presentation and a video to show to MPs. And the Guelph chapter will be handing out pre-addressed envelopes at a town hall event on the TPP they are holding on April 27. They will be asking people to write to the prime minister and express their opposition to the TPP.
Please stay tuned too for information on a possible national day of action this May or June.
To take further action, supporters are also encouraged to:
Send a message to trade minister Freeland and your MP through our collaborative Let’s Talk TPP action alert
Send a message to the trade committee to say Let’s have real public consultations on the TPP
For some of the substantive concerns we have raised about the TPP itself, please see:
The investor-state dispute settlement provision in the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Trudeau must reject extended drug patent provisions in CETA and TPP
Council of Canadians opposes the entry of BGH milk into Canada through the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Trans-Pacific Partnership would mean more temporary foreign workers
UN says the TPP threatens Indigenous rights
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and water services, water protection
While the federal government has not formally announced the date of a ratification vote for the TPP in the House of Commons, media reports suggest it will be in the fall or winter of 2017.
