The Nelson Daily reports today, “Council passed a motion asking the federal government to exempt the City of Nelson from the provisions of CETA if the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Seven Trade Principles are not followed.”
On February 1, the Nelson Star had reported, “Councillor Candace Batycki, at the request of interested residents, brought a notice of motion regarding the CETA exception to council’s committee of the whole meeting last week, to give council a chance to discuss and gather information on the motion before the next council meeting (on Monday February 4 beginning at 7 pm PT) when it will be formally voted on. …Batycki asked Sandra Nelken and Pegasus McCauley of the Nelson Chapter of the Council of Canadians to explain their concern with the trade agreement. They pointed to leaked documents obtained by Quebec media last November that suggest the agreement would make it illegal to give local companies preference on municipal contracts and open the door for international corporations to launch lawsuits against municipalities if anything was done to limit their access to the contract. They also suggested Nelson should be calling on the federal government to be more transparent in the negotiations and engage in consultation with municipalities.”
Council of Canadians trade campaigner Stuart Trew has stated, “More than 40 local governments want the Harper government to stop gambling with their futures through CETA. Another 30 to 40 municipal councils, school boards or associations have asked for more information and a greater say in the CETA negotiations.”
For today’s Nelson Daily news article, please see http://thenelsondaily.com/news/skatepark-dogs-ceta-and-more-summary-february-4-2013-nelson-city-council-meeting-23078. The earlier Nelson Star article is at http://www.nelsonstar.com/news/189282851.html. To read the campaign blog about this CETA vote, go to http://canadians.org/blog/?p=19145. Our media release about this WIN! is at http://canadians.org/media/trade/2013/05-Feb-13.html. For more on the Council of Canadians campaign to have municipal resolutions passed in opposition to CETA, please go to http://canadians.org/action/2012/CETA-resolution.html.
