The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union will hurt workers, communities and public services.
By passing Bill C-30, the CETA Implementation Act, the federal government has rushed CETA into place, ignored the ongoing criticisms of this dangerous trade deal, and shunned its responsibility to protect the best interests of Canadians. The many flaws in this deal, the bulk of which was negotiated by the Harper government, were never remedied.
Over the course of the parliamentary debates and committee hearings, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) called for the government not to ratify CETA in its current form, and to:
- Remove all investor rights rules from the deal
- Protect public services from privatization
- Stop pharmaceutical patent extensions
- Protect procurement across services and sectors
- Include a real mechanism for enforcing labour rights
Prime Minister Trudeau has rushed CETA in place without holding meaningful consultations or obtaining an independent analysis of the deal’s impacts on our country. As the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Scott Sinclair asks, why the rush to ratify?
The democratic process has been trampled, and many voices from independent experts and other concerned Canadians have been silenced.
With Bill C-30 off to the Senate, CUPE is urging senators to vigorously study CETA’s many implications before voting on it.
The European Parliament has also just passed CETA, but the agreement’s far from a done deal. CETA still needs to be ratified by 38 national and regional parliaments, and European opposition remains high.
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