London chapter activist George Crowell reports, “London City Council unanimously passed on the evening of October 3 a resolution regarding CETA. It comes as a result of the submission I made to the Finance and Administration Committee last Wednesday morning, with discussion continued this afternoon when the Committee supported it and passed it on to the entire Council. The approved resolution expresses concern regarding potential disadvantages for municipalities from the impact of CETA, and recognizes the role of the Council of Canadians in bringing the issue before them. But it does not ask for the clear, permanent exemption for local governments from CETA that we requested. Once the CETA text is made public, we could have another chance to approach City Council with this.”
Over the past months, 13 municipal resolutions have been passed — Nova Scotia (Lunenberg), Ontario (Brantford, Alnwick/Haldimand, Trent Hills, Asphodel-Norwood, Tecumseh, Windsor-Essex, Brockville, and now London), and British Columbia (Logan Lake, Burnaby, North Vancouver, Trail).
To find out how you can pass a CETA resolution in your community – that in part demands that “provincial and territorial governments negotiate a clear, permanent exemption for local governments from CETA” – please go to http://canadians.org/action/2011/CETA-resolution.html.
Congratulations to the London chapter for their win!