07) THE CETA FIGHT IS FAR FROM OVER

 

People's Voice Editorial

 

            As this issue of PV goes in the mail, Stephen Harper will be shaking hands in Ottawa with European Union representatives, and signing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), before we see a word of the official text. Just as shocking, the big opposition parties in Parliament support in principle this odious corporate sellout of Canadian sovereignty. So much for democracy in 21st century Canada.

 

            That's the bad news. The good news is that this fight is still in the middle rounds.  While politicians are reluctant to even ask timid questions, many of their counterparts in Europe are prepared to say "no way" to unelected corporate rule. The parliaments of all 28 countries of the European Union must approve CETA. That process that could take two years, with no guarantee of the outcome. In Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, citizens and legislators alike are outraged that corporations will be granted the right to sue governments if local, provincial or federal regulations put the interests of people and the environment ahead of capitalist profiteering.

 

            The next federal election in Canada is scheduled for October 2015. And that means that Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair will have to face hard questions for voters across the country over the next twelve months.

 

            That gives time for the labour movements in both English‑speaking Canada and Quebec to bring together a broad coalition of Indigenous peoples, environmental groups, municipalities, and all those who understand the dangers of this deal. Resistance must include wide ranging public education, petitions, sit‑ins, and other forms of mobilization, in an all‑out effort to make rejection of CETA a top political priority. A big anti‑CETA campaign in Canada is the best way to signal the peoples of Europe that this deal must never take effect!

 

(The above article is from the October 1-15, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)