Council of Canadians protests outside Conference of Montreal rade talks

News release from Council of Canadians June 6 2011

Montreal – The Council of Canadians joined a rally this morning outside the annual Conference of Montreal to protest the elite gathering, the Charest government’s economic policies, and the province’s leadership role in pushing a sweeping free trade agreement with the European Union which could radically transform the Canadian economy in ways that harm social services, the environment and the public interest.

The Quebec coalition against user fees and the privatization of public services (Coalition opposée à la tarification et à la privatisation des services publics), which is made up of over 130 Quebec labour and civil society groups, organized today’s rally outside the Conference of Montreal. The coalition was protesting the economic choices of the Charest government, including tax increases and user fees on health services, increased tuition fees, public service cuts and privatization. But protestors drew links between Charest’s austerity measures and the global push by big business to profit from the recent economic crisis to undermine public services and social policy.

Inside the elite conference, which goes from June 6 to 10, corporate executives typically discuss the state of corporate-led globalization and exchange strategies on how to push business-friendly policy, including austerity measures, onto world governments. The Council of Canadians joined today’s rally in solidarity with the coalition, in particular to show its opposition to the prominent role of Quebec in pushing forward the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations. The status of CETA is the topic of a Wednesday session at the conference.

“CETA is a deregulation and privatization accord that needs a full airing out before the Harper and Charest governments can take the negotiations any further,” says Abdul Pirani, a Council of Canadians board member and activist who joined the rally today outside the Hilton Bonaventure with the organization’s Montreal chapter.

“The era of free trade has not been good for developing countries, for workers, students or the environment. It has widened inequality within Canada and globally, and it has constrained what publicly elected governments can do to address bigger problems such as climate change, poverty and food shortages. Why given this track record is Canada negotiating the biggest free trade deal this country has ever seen, with an EU government pushing more privatization and deregulation?”

The Council of Canadians is demanding that provincial governments, including the Liberal government of Jean Charest, show the public what policies and services they plan to sacrifice in trade negotiations with the EU before provincial offers are exchanged with EU member states the week of June 20. The organization is a member of the Trade Justice Network, which is demanding a halt to CETA negotiations while the Harper government can seek a public mandate on how or whether to continue the talks with the EU.