The Cowichan Valley chapter held a community meeting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Jan. 24 in Duncan, BC.
Chapter activist Donna Cameron tells us, “Liz Newton spoke about the secrecy of the deal as it was being written by corporate lobbyists and lawyers. She also spoke about the current Liberal government saying they will debate the deal with Canadians but so far they are only speaking out themselves, and the email address for our responses is not an effective debating tool. We then had Damir Wallener speak on the intellectual rights, copyrights and internet rules section. [And] Paul Manly then spoke of the ISDS, which he feels is the most significant part as Canada stands to lose billions of dollars to foreign lawsuits against us. Paul also touched on a few other contentious aspects, such as the BGH in milk that will come from the US.”
Cameron highlights, “Overall it was a very informative meeting with many questions being asked by audience members after the presentation. We encouraged people to continue to do their own research and contact our MP with their concerns.”
Council of Canadians chapters are increasingly mobilizing against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
On Jan. 1, the Chilliwack chapter wrote the Liberal government to raise its concerns about the TPP. Remarkably, Global Affairs Canada (formerly Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development) replied defending the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision in the TPP by citing our experience under NAFTA. On Jan. 12, the Vancouver-Burnaby & Delta-Richmond chapters were present for a TPP panel discussion featuring the federal trade minister, who only made cursory comments about the deal. On Jan. 22, the Regina chapter was at the TPP ‘consultation’ in their city and raised their concerns about both the consultation process and the deal itself in the Regina Leader-Post and on CTV. And on Jan. 25, the Winnipeg chapter and Prairies-NWT regional organizer Brigette DePape questioned the parliamentary secretary to the trade minister on the implications of the TPP on the environment.
For some of our substantive concerns about the TPP itself, please see:
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Council of Canadians tells trade minister TPP is a deal for plutocrats -
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
Our critique of the Liberal government’s consultation process can be read here:
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Trudeau offers an e-mail address to hear from you on the TPP -
Council calls for review of the TPP, Trudeau government makes no promises to renegotiate
The Trudeau government will sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Feb. 4 in Auckland, New Zealand. Following this, there will be a two-year yet-to-be-defined ratification process. The 12-country TPP is expected to come into force as of 2018. For more on this issue, please go to our campaign web-page here.
To call on the Trudeau government to hold real public consultations on the TPP, please click here.