The federal government is releasing details of its interprovincial trade agreement today, claiming that it would get rid of barriers between provinces. This agreement would bring in contentious provisions of Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) through the back door, argues the Council of Canadians, which is available for comment on the issue.
“In the guise of allowing beer and wine to cross the border, and marijuana to be sold, they are also opening the door to more nefarious provisions: allowing corporations to sue provinces, like in Chapter 11 in NAFTA,” says Sujata Dey, Trade Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “While we are waiting for more details, we also believe that it will be a way of surreptitiously bringing in CETA’s provisions — which is highly contested in Europe and Canada. These include provisions which enforce privatization of public services and get in the way of buy local provincial and municipal policies. Canadians should be wary of the details of this agreement which aren’t as innocuous as advertised.”
The Council of Canadians has been lobbying and organizing against CETA on both sides of the Atlantic for the past decade.
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For more information or to arrange interviews:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org. Twitter: @CouncilOfCDNs
