Makhan Dubé writes in The Daily News that, “I write to congratulate the mayor and council members of Nanaimo on endorsing the motion submitted by Paul Manly, as representative of the Nanaimo chapter of the Council of Canadians, rejecting the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement being negotiated between Canada and the European Union. …The motion seeks to protect the powers of municipalities to serve the needs of their citizens who chose them to exercise those powers for our benefit in Nanaimo. It should be recommended reading for all of us in B.C., being quite comprehensive and relevant. The reasons for the parts of the resolution are given. A request is made for the public to express their views on what is being negotiated. ….Congratulations again to all involved.”
As noted in a media release issued on April 9 by the chapter, “The Council of Canadians and its Mid Island chapter are celebrating a decision by City Council last night to demand a permanent exemption for the City from the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). …’We congratulate the City of Nanaimo for standing up for local jobs and local democracy,’ says Paul Manly from the Mid Island chapter of the Council of Canadians.”
The media release also notes, “As written, the CETA procurement rules would forbid a city, town, school board or other body included in the deal from preferring one bidding firm over another based on how much of the content in a certain project was local or Canadian. CETA would also ban municipalities from considering local development benefits when choosing between different bidding firms, whether they were Canadian or European. It’s up to the Province of British Columbia to decide whether Nanaimo and other cities will be bound by these rules.”
More than 40 municipal councils, school boards or associations, including large cities like Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga and Victoria, have also sought an exemption from CETA.
Congratulations to the Mid Island chapter on this win!
For more, please read:
Nanaimo asks to be excluded from CETA
Council is right to say that trade deal is all wrong
The Council of Canadians CETA campaign web-page
