Chapter activist Rick Arnold
The Council of Canadians Northumberland chapter was interviewed on Northumberland 89.7 FM on May 19 about an upcoming gathering in Mexico City of civil society and labour activists that will be strategizing around the imminent renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Chapter activist Rick Arnold highlighted the upcoming ‘Trinational Meeting of Social Movements from Canada, Mexico and the United States on NAFTA’ that will take place this coming Friday May 26 and Saturday May 27.
Arnold and fellow chapter activist Bev Burke will be at this ‘encuentro’ in advance of the NAFTA talks that could begin as early as August 16.
The promotion for the gathering highlights, “We call on social movements, trade unions, farmers, indigenous nations, migrants, environmentalists, human rights groups and all other interested sectors/organizations from Mexico, United States and Canada to come together to strengthen trinational work in the face of the ‘re-negotiation’ of NAFTA, an agreement that has been negative for the peoples of the three countries. …This gathering gives us all an opportunity to strategize around actions needed to build collective power based on the principles of solidarity and internationalism while sharing alternatives to the dominant neo-liberal agenda.”
Mexican organizations, working together under the umbrella of ‘Mexico Better Off Without FTAs’, are convening this gathering. Organizations in Canada and Quebec involved in this include Common Frontiers, the Trade Justice Network, RQIC, ATTAC-Québec, along with the Quebec-based unions CSD, CSN, FTQ and SPGQ.
Arnold tells us he will also have an extended 1-hour interview on 89.7 FM on June 2 following his return from Mexico City.
Montreal-based Council of Canadians trade campaigner Sujata Dey will also be at the trinational meeting.
