The Council of Canadians joined with allies today to protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The occasion was a 1-day hearing being held at the Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel in Toronto by the House of Commons standing committee on international trade into the 12-country ‘free trade’ deal.
Council of Canadians health care campaigner Michael Butler spoke at the rally, while organizers Rachel Small and Gerard Di Trolio helped to both promote and pull the rally together.
The rally was organized in partnership with Unifor, OpenMedia, LeadNow, the Trade Justice Network, Common Frontiers and other allies.
The Council of Canadians Montreal chapter also protested the TPP outside the parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, while the Windsor chapter rallied when the standing committee was in their community on Thursday. Council of Canadians activists also protested outside the hearings last month when they were in Vancouver, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.
The protests have focused on both the content of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as well as the limited scope and ability of the public to participate in these hearings.
We reject the TPP because of:
-
the deal’s investor-state dispute settlement provision -
the job losses expected to come with it -
the harm it would do to the auto parts sector -
the Bovine Growth Hormone-tainted milk it would allow into Canada -
the further exploitation of temporary foreign workers it would enable -
the extended patent protection it would give to transnational corporations for expensive life-saving pharmaceuticals -
the threat posed to public water services and water protection -
the lack of transparency in its negotiation and now in its ratification process.
It is important to email your comments on the TPP to the committee via email at ciit-tpp-ptp@parl.gc.ca The committee is accepting written submissions (of no more than 1,500 words in length) until June 30. Media reports suggest that the House of Commons will vote on the ratification of the TPP in the fall of 2017, just before the November 2017 deadline set by the 12-signatory countries.
For our critique of the TPP, please see our campaign web-page here.
Further reading
Windsor and Montreal chapters protest the TPP (May 12, 2016)
Winnipeg activists protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership (April 21, 2016)
Council of Canadians & Climate Justice Saskatoon protest outside TPP hearing (April 21, 2016)
A most unpublic ‘public hearing’ on the TPP in Vancouver (April 18, 2016)
