North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

The clock is ticking on the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Both the U.S. and Canada have opened up public consultations on the tri-country deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. NAFTA renegotiations could start as early as August.

President Trump has made it clear he wants
NAFTA renegotiation to put “America first.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has unsuccessfully tried to placate Trump. Prime Minister Trudeau has also tried to defend the deal, despite the evidence. For years we have seen the ravages of NAFTA – the Chapter 11 corporate lawsuits that have cost Canada millions of dollars and eroded our environmental and public policy, hollowed out manufacturing towns and hundreds of thousands of people put out of work, and greater inequality in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

We must stand up for an alternate vision – NAFTA renegotiations present an opportunity for a better, fairer NAFTA that will improve things for people and the planet.

Give the Canadian government a strong negotiating mandate by calling on it to:

► Eliminate Chapter 11, the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) process, from NAFTA. ISDS provisions allow corporations to sue governments for policies or regulations that restrict corporate profits. Corporations have used these provisions to challenge laws that protect people’s health and the environment.

► Remove all references from NAFTA to water as a good, service or investment. Canada is vulnerable to bulk water exports and increased privatization under the deal. President Trump could see Canadian water as a way to hydrate drought-ridden U.S. states.

► Eliminate NAFTA’s energy proportionality rule. This rule requires Canada to export a locked-in percentage of our energy production to the U.S. This forces continued production in the tar sands, which will stop Canada from meeting its climate commitments.

We must stand up to Trump’s dangerous agenda on trade. We can make NAFTA fairer by protecting and expanding Canadians jobs, safeguarding water and the environment, and strengthening our economy.

Join other Canadian, Québécois and Indigenous artists like Margaret Atwood, Susan Swan, Jane Urquhart, Jack Stoddart in making sure Canada protects culture at the NAFTA negotiating table. Ajoutez votre voix aux autres artistes canadiens, Québécois et autochtones en assurant que la culture soit protégée dans l'ALÉNA. Read the letter: English | français ADD YOUR SIGNATURE »