Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and CUPE president Paul Moist spoke to more than 300 people last night at the Alberta Federation of Labour convention in Calgary on the first stop of their ‘Canadian Communities Not For Sale’ speaking tour against the Canada-European Union free trade agreement.
The tour now goes to:
- Montreal – May 24 (with CUPE Secretary-Treasurer Claude Genereux)
- Toronto – May 26 (with CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn)
- Saskatoon – May 30
- Winnipeg – June 27
- Halifax – June 28
- St. John’s – June 29
This tour is taking place prior to the critical eighth round of Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations in Brussels this July 11-15, where offers on services are likely to take place. CUPE’s Paul Moist has said, “I know from first-hand experience they’re extremely interested in all water infrastructure in Canada: waste water treatment, water treatment, etc., because at the annual (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) convention (European corporations are) there in droves with their trade show materials.”
Conservative leader Stephen Harper says that if he is re-elected he will proceed ‘full-throttle’ on CETA and that the deal will be signed by January 1, 2012.
More on our concerns about CETA at http://canadians.org/ceta.