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Barrie councillors urged to support New Tec resolution on free trade deal with EU

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In Governance
Aug 17th, 2011
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Municipalities should be exempt from CETA, council told
AWARE Simcoe August 17 2011
Mariane Cancilla, representing AWARE Barrie / AWARE Simcoe, and Myrna Clark, representing Council of Canadians, appeared before Barrie City Council Monday night to warn of potentially dire consequences of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement – CETA – which is being negotiated between Canada’s federal and provincial governments and the European Union.
“We are concerned too about the negative impact CETA will have on municipalities and their ability to set economic and social policy for our communities,” Cancilla said. “In spite of this, mayors and municipal councillors have not been a part of the CETA negotiations.”
“The European Union has asked Canadian provinces to include drinking water and sanitation services in the CETA agreement,” Clark said. “This will be the first time Canada has allowed our drinking water to be fully covered under a trade treaty.”
Cancilla pointed out thatin 2009, Barrie passed a bylaw to incorporare green, sustainable and Fair Trade requirements into the city’s procurement policies.
CETA will comrpomise any such efforts to promote social objectives like ethical procurement and buying local, she said.
Councillor Alex Nuttall questioned the city’s CAO about the present policy on buying local. It appeared that this is not a major consideration, despite the 2009 bylaw.
Nuttall also asked if it’s true that Canada is the only country not to have recognized water as a human right (Canada is the only Western country to have done so – joined only by Tonga in voting against a UN resoluton to that effect.) He suggested the first step should be to appeal to the federal government to recognize water as a right.

Councillor Peter Silvera said that there must be benefits to Canada from opening up the European market.
Cancilla said that the groups are not opposed to trade – but to the loss of decision-making power on important local issues.
Canadian municipalities deserve a say, said Clark, adding that a resolution brought forward by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting in June called for a clear, permanent exemption for municipalities from CETA.
Cancilla and Clark urged Barrie councillors to support a reolution from New Tecumseth and other municipalities that will be before the upcoming meeting of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. 
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