- Councillors Cassidy, Harrison and Hamilton
Quinte West is a city in southern Ontario located on the western end of the Bay of Quinte on Lake Ontario. Quinte West was formed through the amalgamation of the city of Trenton, the village of Frankford and the townships of Murray and Sidney in 1998.
The Trentonian reports, “A free trade deal currently being negotiated between Canada and the European Union could have far reaching implications for local municipalities. …Organizations like the Northumberland chapter of the Council of Canadians, say the trade agreement opens up municipal, provincial and federal procurement contracts, including hospital and utilities to European corporations.”
“The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and most recently the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) have passed resolutions demanding exemptions for local government under the potential CETA deal. Quinte West city council unanimously backed the resolution Monday.”
“While the pending trade deal has been largely been off the public radar screen, municipal politicians are starting to take notice. ‘The agreement is being done (negotiated) at the highest levels and the consequences are far reaching,’ said Coun. Terry Cassidy. ‘We should be taking issue with it, and if we don’t, then who is going to be standing on guard for Canada?’ Coun. Jim Harrison agreed. ‘The deal should be bringing up a lot of concerns for all of us,’ he said. ‘It has the potential to prohibit local decision making on important issues like tendering and issuing request for proposals.’ Coun. Ron Hamilton warned local buying power could wind up in the hands of European companies. ‘The next thing could be our water resources,’ he said.”
To date, 15 municipal resolutions have been passed — Lunenberg (Nova Scotia), Brantford, Alnwick/Haldimand, Trent Hills, Asphodel-Norwood, Tecumseh, Windsor-Essex, Brockville, London, French River, Quinte West (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.