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Ontario Chapters drag CETA into the light, AMO puts provincial government on notice.

Our Ontario chapters have been successfully educating municipal councils about the danger posed by the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) currently being negotiated in secret with the European Union. Details from leaked drafts of the agreement show that the EU wants access to all municipal spending on goods and services-water, transit, energy, everything.  CETA may prevent local governments from spending their tax revenue locally and even allow EU corporations to sue for compensation if they feel “buy local” programs have infringed on their potential profits.  Months of diligent work by our chapters and allies has resulted in a wave of municipal councils passing resolutions demanding a say in what the federal government offers the EU and today, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario issued a carefully worded statement detailing their expectations and concerns about the trade deal.   

 

Our Northumberland chapter secured resolutions in the  townships of Alnwick/Haldiman , Trent Hills, and Aspholdel-Norwood  and put CETA on the radar of councilors in Hamilton Township, Brighton, Cobourg, Crahme, Port Hope and Northumberland.  Tonight they will present at Hastings County council.  

 Last night, our Simcoe Chapter and Aware Simcoe appeared at Barrie city hall supported by several local groups in the council chambers. Their message-inscribed on poker chips given to the Mayor and council of Barrie, was clear- “Don’t gamble with our cities”.

A few hundred kilometers away in Brantford, Susan Rice convinced her city Council to pass a particularly strong resolution making it the sixth by a local government  in Ontario along with those in the Northumberland region, New Tecumseth and Norwood.

Why not talk to your municipal government about CETA. We can provide a presentation and draft resolution. You can be almost certain that you will know more about the secrets of CETA than anyone else in the room. Shed some light on it!

More resources:http://canadians.org/action/2011/CETA-resolution.html 

By Maryam Adrangi and Mark Calzavara-Ontario Quebec Regional Office