Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow had a full day in London, England today (Nov. 5) speaking against the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the United States-European Union Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision.
In the afternoon she was in a meeting at the UK Parliament and in the evening she spoke at a public forum in Portland Hall at the University of Westminster. Her compatriots today were Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden, Ugandan policymaker, political activist, professor, author and public intellectual Yash Tandon, Trade Justice Movement co-ordinator Ruth Bergan, and Global Justice Now anti-TTIP campaigner Guido Tallman.
Global Justice Now tweeted:
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This afternoon we’re in parliament to say #nottip. @MaudeBarlow @RuthBergan @nickdearden75 and Yash Tandon -
.@MaudeBarlow is in the British parliament this afternoon to urge us to stop #CETA -
Maude Barlow speaks in the UK Parliament. Experts gathering on trade, Cttee Rm 16 #stopCETA -
7pm Central London ‘Stop the Transatlantic Trade Deals’ talk with @MaudeBarlow @nickdearden75 Free! #noTTIP #CETA -
‘Trade is life and death’ @MaudeBarlow tells #NoTTIP No #CETA rally in London tonight -
‘In Detroit poorest Americans are being charged highest water rates. Now they’re cutting off 1000s per week’ @MaudeBarlow #nottip
Acknowledging the ‘Climate Welcome’ protest that was taking place in Ottawa today to urge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to act with urgency on climate change, Barlow tweeted a photo of those taking part in the sit-in action and said, “Solidarity from London England! I am telling everyone here about the tar sands and bad trade deals like CETA.” At the public forum in Leeds on Tuesday (Nov. 3), Barlow highlighted that CETA will increase the flow of tar sands into Europe. In fact, the Natural Resources Defense Council has noted that while about 4,000 barrels per day of tar sands was exported into Europe in 2012 that number is set to increase to 725,000 barrels a day by 2020.
Barlow is currently on a 7-city tour of the United Kingdom organized by Global Justice Now, which is “a democratic social justice organisation working as part of a global movement to challenge the powerful and create a more just and equal world.” During the tour, Barlow has been highlighting her new 15-page report Fighting TTIP, CETA and ISDS: Lessons from Canada (which is also available in French, German and Spanish).
The Global Justice Now tour has now been to Dundee (Nov. 1), Manchester (Nov. 2), Leeds (Nov. 3) and London (Nov. 5). Next it will go to Oxford (Nov. 6), Cardiff (Nov. 7) and Dublin (Nov. 8). Following the UK tour, Barlow will also be speaking on trade justice at stops in Madrid (Nov. 10-11), Barcelona (Nov. 12), Vienna (Nov. 16-17), Karlsruhe (Nov. 24-25) and Paris (Nov. 29).
For more on our campaign to stop CETA, please click here.
Photos by Guido Tallman, Nick Dearden, Mark Dearn.