On October 18, 2013, after four years of negotiations, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, signed a “tentative” CETA agreement in Brussels. CETA stands for Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, and is said by Harper to be the biggest trade deal Canada has ever made, even bigger than North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Typical of the Harper government, this enormously significant agreement was signed before anyone had a chance to view it, but the following contents have leaked into view.
The main thrust of the deal is to give international corporations greater power over Canadian rules and regulations than they already possess under NAFTA. In effect, according to this deal, foreign corporations are to be treated as equal to domestic companies in Canada. CETA has very little to do with expanding “free trade” and everything to do with giving international corporations ever greater power to over-ride domestic authority.
Public Procurement
CETA will ban government at all levels from “buy local” policies, as harmful to the level playing field urged by international corporations. As Murray Dobbin tells us in Can-adian Dimension, “The procurement provisions – giving EU corporations unobstructed access to the public spending of municipalities, school boards, hospitals, universities and crown corporations – is especially threatening given the critical role such public spending plays in a time of virtually zero private investment. The strategic use of public spending for economic development and support for local businesses or sectors (such as green energy), would also be effectively banned. Others worry that if the EU gets its procurement deal, the US will want similar treatment – an even greater threat given its proximity to Canada.”
Under this new procurement regime, the privatization of local services becomes far more likely: water, electricity, transit, medical services, postal services, and social services. On the other hand, in bold contrast to Canada’s part, the European Union has negotiated a blanket exemption to protect their water, energy and public services, including health care. Why don’t we get the same?
Pharmaceutical
As part of the deal, European pharmaceutical corporations are seeking to extend their monopolies on patent drugs, delaying for an even longer term, cheaper generic drugs for Canadian citizens. Meanwhile, there is no indication that the EU will make any changes to its own patent system.
Investor Rights
This term refers to giving foreign corporations based in Canada the right to sue our government for public policies that affect the maximization of their profits. Already Canada is facing nearly $2.5 billion worth of corporate lawsuits under NAFTA’s investment protection chapter, including one from an oil and gas company against Quebec’s moratorium on fracking and another against Canada by the pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, demanding a $100 million for “expropriation” because the courts refused to grant a drug patent on the grounds it did not satisfy conditions set down by Canadian law. Rather than free trade, the Investor State Settlement Process is more about the elimination of public interest policies instituted to protect consumer, health, safety, privacy and environmental values.
By the same negative token, Canadian companies will not hesitate to sue Europe for completely legitimate public decisions, for example, instituting regulations for mining companies, or stricter environmental rules qualifying the sales of oil and gas.
What’s Missing
In all official discussion of CETA, two issues are conspicuously missing: one is the environment and the other is native rights. Already NAFTA, plus the Omnibus Bills C 38 and C 45, and the suppression of science in the ministries, have seriously hampered our ability to respond with intelligence to environmental changes.
By now, it would be tiresome to labour the point that the natural world is in decline. Yet, all we hear from Stephen Harper in his cheery speech celebrating CETA is a $12 billion boost to our economy and the 100,000 cars a year Canadian automakers will export to Europe (hopefully burning tar sands oil!).
But we all know there’s no wisdom in putting dollars over health, over life.
Native issues, consultation and land development rights, do not arise in CETA’s consciousness. Indigenous people simply don’t exist in a landscape of Big Money. Neither, apparently, does the Canadian Parliament whose opinions are not solicited and for whom there is no opportunity for debate.
What Can Be Done
The question arises, what can be done to block this diabolical plan?
Again, Murray Dobbin is informative. We are reminded that Harper “is constrained in what he can do by the constitutional division of powers which gives the provinces so much political authority.… The provinces also have a mandate on protecting the environment and regarding labour rights, and most working Canadians are in sectors that come under provincial jurisdiction. Lastly, the third level of government [the municipality] is also a creature of the provinces. While municipalities depend on the federal government for financial help, Ottawa has no political authority over them.”
Since neo-liberal provincial governments have regularly shown obedience to the federal government, their opposition to CETA is undependable. Only municipal governments have shown strong resistance. Thanks to the good work of the Council of Canadians, some 80 municipalities have called either for complete exclusion or passed resolutions expressing concern. Most of these are in BC and Ontario and include large populations like Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga and Victoria.
As for opposition to CETA by the general public, no one can predict how that will go. As it happens, we are neither informed nor consulted on issues pertaining to important economic affairs.
The CETA agreement is not a done deal. It’s a “tentative” agreement and despite Harper and Barroso’s signatures, it will need ratification. Even so it will not come into force until 2015.
The least we can demand is that the agreement be made public. Contact your MP and your MLA and insist that he or she obtain, by whatever means, the full text and proceed to educate their constituency as to its pros and cons.
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Information on CETA: Council of Canadians, www.canadians.org and Murray Dobbin’s article, CETA: Can Harper’s Trojan Horse be Stopped?
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