The Council of Canadians St. John’s chapter says that the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) doesn’t make sense.
VOCM reports, “CETA will not just take away minimum processing requirements, it could also force Newfoundland and Labrador to pay millions of dollars a year for lesser known provisions of the free trade agreement, according to Ken Kavanagh of the Council of Canadians. Kavanagh is urging the public to better inform themselves about the negative impacts of CETA ‘before giving up sovereignty’.”
The article adds, “Once CETA comes into force, he says the province will be giving up the right to control the processing sector. Europe will be able to take all the product they want and ship it overseas, and there will be no way for government to prevent it. He calls it ‘a stupid thing to do’, and says he is surprised our government is willing to oblige. If patent changes proposed by the EU under CETA go through, Kavanagh says Newfoundland and Labrador will be paying millions of dollars in increased costs for pharmaceutical drugs. On a per capita basis, Canadian drug costs are already the second highest after the United States. He says studies have shown that the price tag could be between 13 and 46 million dollars a year. Kavanagh says it will have a significant impact on the budgets of provincial governments, as well as individual Canadians.”
To read more on the issues Kavanagh raises, please see:
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Newfoundland and Labrador must defend Minimum Processing Requirements, say Council of Canadians (May 2015 media advisory) -
Where does Newfoundland and Labrador stand now on CETA? (May 2015 blog) -
Canada-EU CETA would cost $2.8 billion a year in pharmaceutical drug costs (February 2011 blog) -
If Harper can’t be trusted on the fisheries fund, what about pharmaceutical drugs? (December 2014 blog) -
Kavanagh calls for provincial hearings on CETA in Newfoundland & Labrador (December 2014 blog)
And to hear audio clips of Kavanagh speaking on this, please click here.
Photo: Chapter activist Ken Kavanagh.
