The Mayor and Council of French River
French River, also known as Rivière-des-Français, is a northern Ontario municipality of about 2,600 people just south of Sudbury. As noted on their website, “It encompasses nine townships which includes the settlements Alban, French River Station, Ouellette, and Monetville. Many lakes, rivers, and islands are within the municipality, including Trout Lake, the West Arm of Lake Nipissing, and of course, the famous French River, on both the north and south side of Eighteen Mile Island.”
Using the draft resolution that is included in our action alert against the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) at http://canadians.org/action/2011/CETA-resolution.html, area resident Julie Dupuis went to her mayor and councillors on this issue.
On September 21, the municipal council of French River passed the resolution which requests: a briefing from the Ontario Government on the scope and content of trade negotiations with the European Union (EU); the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to provide a sector-by-sector analysis of the potential impacts on municipal functions and powers of the procurement regime that the EU is seeking; the FCM to urge the government of Canada not to provide the EU with access to subnational government procurement; municipal staff to review the available information on the impact CETA will have on municipal governments, with special emphasis on procurement and the delivery of social services; the Government of Ontario to negotiate a clear, permanent exemption for local governments from CETA; and that this resolution be sent to the provincial municipal association for consideration and circulation.
To date, 14 municipal resolutions have been passed — Lunenberg (Nova Scotia), Brantford, Alnwick/Haldimand, Trent Hills, Asphodel-Norwood, Tecumseh, Windsor-Essex, Brockville, London, French River (Ontario), Logan Lake, Burnaby, North Vancouver, and Trail (British Columbia).
To find out how you can pass a CETA resolution in your community, please go to http://canadians.org/action/2011/CETA-resolution.html.
