Canada-EU trade pact still not a done deal
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By Y. FIKRET KAYALI The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Eco nomic and Trade Agreement, barely rescued from the grave, may yet prove to be one of the walking-dead.
The signature of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and those of his European counterparts on the document are, at this point, merely ceremonial. Before imple mentation, ratification votes must be held in Ottawa and in 28 parliaments across the old continent.
The regional assembly in Wallonia allowed the Bel gian PM to sign on because the legality of the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism, which permits firms to sue governments over regulations that alleg edly affect profits, will first be tested in court.
Canada’s trade minister, Chrystia Freeland, frus trated with the Belgian regional parliament that had been blocking the deal, was on the verge of tears as she said, “Canada is disappointed. I am personally very disappointed. I have worked very, very hard. We have decided to go home. I am truly very, very sad,” the Guardian reported. The head of the European Parlia ment, however, held emergency talks in a bid to save the deal.
In sharp contrast to Chrystia Freeland, socialists in Canada join millions of people who celebrated the temporary setback to CETA. We restate our commit ment to oppose CETA and similar undemocratic, probig business, anti-labour so-called free trade agree ments.
Initiated in the Stephen Harper years, and en Precarious employment and shrinking pensions are here to stay, says Canada’s Finance Minister Bill Morneau. He told a meeting of the federal Liberal Party’s Ontario wing on Oct. 23 that Canadians should get used to a “job churn” of short-term work and many career changes in life. The multi-millionaire ex-Bay Street CEO also demanded “a recognition that people aren’t going to have the same pen sion benefits” as past generations.
Morneau touted small increases to the Canada Pension Plan, along with the new Child Benefit provided by the federal Lib eral government. But these measures will not raise many seniors above the poverty line or provide affordable child care for millions of working parents who need it—let alone stop bosses from converting decent-paying jobs into poorly paying ones.
What instead should be done? Legis late a shorter workweek, without loss of pay or benefits. Institute a $20 per hour minimum wage, massively invest in infrastructure repair, and opt for pub lic ownership of runaway plants. Such moves would be steps towards a solution – though they’re not likely to find a spot on the Finance Minister’s agenda. What, dorsed by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, CETA has been seven years in the making. It stumbled when the legislative assembly of Wallonia, a French-speak ing region with a population of 3.5 million, blocked the government in Brussels from signing the deal. Wallo nia’s vocal and powerful farmers have been central to the region’s objections to the investment protection provisions of the treaty. The deal cannot be ratified without European Union unanimity.
There is deep, widespread opposition to CETA, in cluding by European labour unions, environmen talists and human rights groups. On September 17, 320,000 people marched against CETA and TTIP in Germany. The governments of Romania and Bulgaria have said that they will vote against CETA if Canada doesn’t change its visa requirements. Citizens in Ger many, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, and Austria have also expressed grave concerns. In Canada, many social justice organizations, such as the Council of Canadi ans, have been organizing campaigns against CETA. In June, dairy farmers from Ontario and Quebec drove to Parliament Hill with their tractors to raise concerns about lost income and the slow erosion of supply management under the proposed deal.
CETA is much more than a trade agreement. It is an arrangement to introduce a variety of capital-friendly changes in areas as diverse as intellectual property rights, government procurement, food safety and en vironmental protection, financial regulation, the tem porary movement of workers, and public services. It stipulates strong and fully enforceable protections for public debate. The deal is also undemocratic due to its pro-corporate regulations about government pro curement policies. Currently, Canada’s existing com mitments covering provincial and local government purchasing under international trade treaties are quite limited.
But CETA promises corporations, in the words of Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives’ Scott Sinclair, “unconditional access to government procurement, particularly at the sub-national level The proposed restrictions on government purchasing would elimi nate the flexibility for governments to use their pur chasing power to enhance local benefits, even when contracts are competed openly and do not discrimi nate on the basis of the nationality of the suppliers.”
A corporate power grab, CETA can be defeated.
Defeating CETA should be followed by sending other pro-corporate “free” trade agreements such as TransPacific Partnership (TPP), the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) with China, and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into the trash bin of history. Unions, and the NDP (which has been rather quiet on CETA) should take the lead in this effort. n Toronto Socialist Action’s annual Trotsky School Education for Activists Conference, Nov. 18-19: Revolutionary Strategy Woodsworth College Residence 321 Bloor Street West, room 20.
More information: Socialist Action / Ligue pour l’Action socialiste. www.socialistaction.ca