On December 19, 2011, the Guelph chapter of the Council of Canadians, the Guelph Wellington Coalition for Social Justice, Guelph Labour Council, Central Students Association, Guelph Wellington Health Coalition, Guelph Civic League, and several individuals asked Guelph city council to join other municipalities and be excluded from the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), at least until the details of it are made available for public scrutiny.
We have just received word from Guelph chapter activist Norah Chaloner that Guelph city council has passed a resolution that states, “Guelph City Council does not support the ratification of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement by the Government of Canada at this time without the Government of Canada providing further opportunity for public and municipal government assessment of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the opportunity for further input into the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement…”
To read Toronto Star columnist Linda Diebel’s recent column on why CETA is ringing alarm bells with municipalities across the country, go to http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1136423–canada-europe-trade-deal-prohibits-provinces-municipalities-from-favouring-local-bidders-on-contracts. Guelph will now be added to our web-map noting municipalities across Canada that have passed expressions of concern about CETA, www.canadians.org/ceta.
To help pass a CETA resolution in your community, see our community resource materials at www.canadians.org/ceta-resolution.
Congratulations to Norah and the Guelph chapter for their work on this!
