Fred Wilson, Dylan Penner, Maude Barlow
The Telegraph-Journal reports that, “The Council of Canadians began its 24th annual meeting in the city Friday…”
“Called Turning the Tide, a wide range of speakers will talk about what the group refers to as ‘a just economy for the people and the planet.’ The meeting is being held at the Saint John Trade & Convention Centre.”
“(Maude) Barlow’s group is calling for an economy not based on market projections, cyclical recoveries and corporate profits, but on people.”
“One of the topics that will be discussed is pending free trade deals with countries such as Europe. …The European deal, said Barlow, will open Canada’s water, schools and hospitals up to foreign firms.”
“Rather than more free trade pacts, Barlow wants to see (more local production and consumption as well as) government subsidies that allow such sectors as manufacturing to compete with growing economic giants such as China. Free trade, she said, doesn’t work.”
“Barlow also had concerns about the Atlantic Gateway – an integrated air, rail, marine and road freight transportation network being developed by the four Atlantic provinces and federal government.”
“Fred Wilson, a trade union activist and Council of Canadians board member, said the economic recovery that is being trumpeted is simply not happening. ‘There is no recovery and no recovery in site,’ Wilson said at the press conference. ‘This weekend is about alternatives.'”
The article – which also ran in the Sudbury Star – is at http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/834467.
