CUPE reports this evening that, “A resolution on (the impact of trade deals on municipal governments), submitted by three B.C. municipalities and the Union of BC Municipalities, passed easily in the morning plenary at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ annual convention.”
“Resolution B56 calls for ‘open public consultation before negotiating any internal or international trade and security agreement,’ including municipal input through FCM. The resolution also commits the federation to further researching and monitoring of the effects of trade deals on municipalities.”
“CUPE and its allies (including the Council of Canadians) helped support the resolution, which highlights the threat trade deals pose to public services..”
Additionally, the CBC reports that, “In response to the ‘Buy American’ provisions of the U.S. stimulus package, Canada’s mayors narrowly passed a resolution (by a vote of 189-175) Saturday that could potentially block U.S. companies from bidding on city contracts. …The resolution says the federation should support cities that adopt policies that allow them to buy only from companies whose home countries do not impose trade restrictions against Canadian goods. …The resolution was initiated by the Ontario community of Halton Hills, where two local companies have lost contracts they previously had in the U.S.”
To read the ‘ACTION ALERT: Contact your councillor about trade at the FCM meeting’, please go to www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=665.
The full CUPE report is at cupe.ca/municipalities/Local-governments-wa.
The CBC report is at www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/06/mayors-resolution.html.
