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Trade

Trade is important to the Canadian economy to the extent that it enriches communities, respects democracy, and preserves our shared natural environment. But free trade agreements signed by Canada and other countries in the past 30 years have had the opposite effect.

From the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1988, through NAFTA, the WTO and Canada’s many Foreign Investment Protection Agreements, to today’s bilateral, European Union and Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, these deals enrich multinational corporations at the expense of the vast majority of people and the planet. In fact, these old and new agreements are better understood as corporate rights deals.

The Council of Canadians believes trade agreements should be made by and for people, not corporations. We campaign to make trade deals fair, and trade policy open and democratic.

Council of canadians on cusma review

Council of canadians on cusma review

When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was renegotiated into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in July 2020, the ...
Boycotts work! Are you boycotting Loblaws?

What’s up with the Loblaws boycott? 

Since May 1, people across the country have been boycotting Loblaws and any affiliated grocery stores as a part of ...
Open letter supporting the right of the people of Mexico to determine their own relationship with corn

Open letter supporting the right of the people of Mexico to determine their own relationship with corn

The Council of Canadians has signed this open letter led by the National Farmer's Union in solidarity with farmers in ...
PRESS RELEASE: Canada argues against Mexico’s restrictions on GM corn

PRESS RELEASE: Canada argues against Mexico’s restrictions on GM corn

"Mexico is a sovereign nation with the right to determine the future of its food supply." ...
We support the right of the people of Mexico to determine their own relationship with corn

We support the right of the people of Mexico to determine their own relationship with corn

The Government of Canada is supporting a trade challenge initiated by the USA, under CUSMA, that aims to end Mexico’s ...
MEDIA ADVISORY: Canadian NGO demands answers from Ottawa after expulsion from trade dispute panel

MEDIA ADVISORY: Canadian NGO demands answers from Ottawa after expulsion from trade dispute panel

“As Canada challenges Mexico to stop its planned phase-out of GM corn for human consumption, a too-close collaboration between our ...
GMO corn Canada and U.S. bully Mexico to use GMO corn due to biotech lobby groups

Submission to Federal Government on exclusion from CUSMA dispute panel on the GM Corn Dispute

This letter has been prepared by the Trade Justice Group of the Northumberland Chapter of the Council of Canadians. The ...
GMO corn Canada and U.S. bully Mexico to use GMO corn due to biotech lobby groups

Why Mexico’s 2023 ban on GM corn is the right move

Prevented from providing research and arguments directly to the trade dispute panel, the Trade Justice Group of the Northumberland Chapter ...