Council of Canadians Executive Director Garry Neil is in Brussels to deliver a petition with more than 5,000 signatures opposing the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) to the office of Martin Shulz, President of the European Parliament.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 18 at 5:30 a.m. EDT (11:30 a.m. CEST).
WHERE: European Union Parliament, Wiertzstraat 60, B-1047 Brussels.
WHY: The petition calls on Members of the European Parliament to put a stop to CETA, which the Council argues is an anti-democratic corporate rights pact.
Stephen Harper is desperate to sign a Canada-European Union CETA – the farthest reaching trade deal Canada has ever been a part of – at any cost. He’s negotiating it in secret with no public debate, so we won’t know what Harper has given away until it’s too late.
Despite the secrecy, leaked CETA chapters show it will go even further than NAFTA in giving corporations the “right” to profit by letting them sue governments for environmental, public health or other public policies they don’t like.
Mr. Neil will share with the EU President the dreadful record of successful corporate challenges to various federal and provincial government policies under NAFTA, which have cost Canadian taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. CETA will benefit corporations by undermining people and communities.
– 30 –
http://canadians.org/ceta | Twitter: @CouncilOfCDNs
