Canada’s Free Trade agenda: Dissing democracy and rewarding despots

April 27, 2011

(Montreal and Ottawa, April 27, 2011) – Since coming to power the minority government of Stephen Harper has vigorously pursued preferential free trade with despots abroad and spared no quarter for democracy at home, says a broad group of Canadian organizations which are demanding a new foreign policy and trade approach by the next government.

The Harper government is moving stealthily and quickly to complete the biggest trade deal Canada has ever seen with the European Union, which will fundamentally reshape our national and local economies while undermining environmental policy, public services and democratic decision making. Harper has also rewarded foreign investors for suing Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement’s investor-state provisions while Canadian investors applaud Canada’s trade negotiations with some of this hemisphere’s worst human rights abusers such as Colombia and Honduras.

We, civil society networks and organizations from Canada and Quebec say that’s enough!