Understanding CETA

[Oscar]

Understanding CETA

From: Stuart Trew

Sent: Friday, October 29, 2010 11:45 AM

The European Union is asking that Canada review the Investment Act to remove conditions on foreign takeovers completely. Canada argues back that it has never been used to restrict a European bid, but the EU simply says that’s all the more reason to get rid of restrictions or conditions through CETA. The EU has specifically asked for foreign ownership caps to be removed in the areas of telecommunications, natural resources (uranium in particular – the French ambassador told an event in Montreal this week that Areva would like to be able to own more than 49 per cent of its uranium assets in Canada), finance and banking, fisheries, and probably other areas we don’t know about. Harper is clearly using CETA to push a total open investment model onto Canada

Stuart Trew
Trade Campaigner
Council of Canadians
More info at: http://www.canadians.org/tradeblog/

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----- Original Message -----
From: Elaine Hughes
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 6:52 PM
Subject: UNDERSTANDING CETA ?

Please distribute to your RM, Village, Town and City Mayors and Councillors ......

CETA will negatively affect every aspect of our lives!

Elaine
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Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)

http://www.canadians.org/trade/issues/EU/index.html

Canada and the European Union are negotiating a ‘comprehensive’ free trade agreement that for the first time involves the provinces at the table. That’s because European negotiators, acting on behalf of Europe’s largest corporations, want better access than American companies got in NAFTA – right down to the city and school board level. Canadian corporations are looking for better access to the European market for agriculture and minerals without having to meet stricter EU standards. EU negotiators want Canadian services contracts, including public services, with an added aim of transferring the $100 to $200 billion our local governments spend annually on goods and services into corporate profits. That includes water delivery services at the municipal level, where large European multinationals see dollar signs in privatizing Canada’s mostly public systems. But the EU is also asking that Canada rewrite intellectual property and telecommunications rules while banning local preferences on public spending by cities, hospitals, school boards and other local public agencies. On balance, there is very little to gain from a deal with the EU and much to lose, which is why we need to stop it before it can be signed at the end of 2011.

MUCH MORE INFO:
http://www.canadians.org/trade/issues/EU/index.html

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CETA and Corporate Lobbying - Corporations hold power over negotiations

http://www.canadians.org/trade/documents/CETA/
CETA-corporations-1010.pdf

www.canadians.org 1-800-387-7177

In Europe, as in Canada, trade policy is developed in close, almost exclusive collaboration with industry lobby groups that have privileged access to negotiating texts. In the case of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), both governments and their trade negotiators have relied on industry lobby groups to flag profit-limiting trade barriers to be eliminated in the ongoing talks. Many of those “barriers” are not tariffs but laws, regulations and other policies that serve important social goals, such as public health and environmental protection, economic security and job creation. It’s not that governments don’t want to maintain high standards to protect people and the Earth from corporate excess , but rather that these social priorities take a back seat in trade deals, which are made by, and for, multinational
companies.
Here’s a brief look at who is hoping to cash-in on CETA.
http://www.canadians.org/trade/documents/CETA/
CETA-corporations-1010.pdf

For more information about the Council of Canadians Trade campaign visit

www.canadians.org or call us toll free at 1-800-387-7177.

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VOTE: Should Canada sign CETA?

http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=5140

October 29, 2010

CBC.ca is asking, “Do you think Canada should enter into a free trade pact with the European Union?”

To vote, go to

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pointofview/2010/10/
free-trade-pact-should-canada-and-the-eu-enter-into-one.html.

Just this week, the Globe and Mail reported that, “A free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union would deal another blow to Canada’s already battered manufacturing sector, wiping out thousands of jobs in food processing, apparel making and the auto industry, according to an analysis of a potential agreement (by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives).”

That’s at
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=5110.

And the Naitonal Post reported that, “Canada’s pharmaceutical industry and the European Union have been quietly lobbying for changes that could give brand-name drugs several years more patent protection here — and potentially add hundreds of millions of dollars to Canadian medication costs annually.”

That’s at
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=5084.

This past summer, we argued that, “Europe is home to the largest water corporations in the world. Expansion for these companies means privatization of public utilities. Based on a leaked copy of the CETA text, and discussions with Canada’s lead negotiator, a picture is emerging of how water companies could use the deal to undermine public water.” That’s at http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=4408.

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Proposed Canada-EU trade agreement a threat to procurement and public services: report

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsro ... -releases/
proposed-canada-eu-trade-agreement-threat-procurement-and-

April 19, 2010
OTTAWA—The proposed Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) poses a serious threat to Canada’s procurement policies and a broad range of public services, says a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

The release of the report, which draws heavily on leaked documents including the draft negotiating text, coincides with the third round of negotiations between Canada and the European Union from April 19-23 in Ottawa.

According to the analysis, the proposed CETA would have an adverse impact on public services, such as waste, drinking water, and public transit. The proposed rules would entrench commercialization, especially public-private partnerships; prohibit governments from obliging foreign investors to purchase locally, transfer technology or train local workers; and make it far harder for governments to reverse failed privatizations.

“Government procurement at the sub-federal level is one of the few remaining areas of significant policy flexibility under Canada’s international trade treaties,” said Scott Sinclair author of the CCPA report. “Provincial, territorial and municipal governments should not discard this important policy tool simply because the EU and the federal government demand it.”

One of the EU’s main targets in the talks is Ontario’s Green Energy Act, which offers subsidies in return for cleaner energy sources and local job creation. EU negotiators are trying to ensure that such policies do not spread across the country, the report notes.

“Unless citizens and their elected representatives speak up forcefully and take action soon, the CETA puts the future of these procurement policy tools and public services at serious risk, ” said Sinclair. –30–

Negotiating From Weakness: Canada-EU trade treaty threatens Canadian purchasing policies and public services is available on the CCPA website:

http://policyalternatives.ca

For more information contact Kerri-Anne Finn,
Senior CCPA Communications Officer, at 613-563-1341 x306.

[Oscar]

Reject bad free trade negotiations with the EU [Watch Parl. debate live Dec 14th]

From: "Janet M Eaton" <jmeaton@ns.sympatico.ca>
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 8:25 AM

Subject: CETA: Reject bad free trade negotiations with the EU [Watch Parl. debate live Dec 14th]

The Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is being negotiated as a "next-generation" free trade deal that goes beyond NAFTA and the WTO in shielding corporate activity from government controls.

http://tradejustice.ca/en/section/2

It is sometimes referred to by our networks as the Canada- EU Free Trade Agreement.
See the Trade Justice Network (TJN) website for the leaked CETA negotiating document, background information on nature of the agreement and its impacts on environment, sustainability, our food system, jobs and the economy, public services, government procuremnt, culture, communications etc. and much more.

http://tradejustice.ca/en/section/2

For a quick overview see the new TJN 4 page comic book which reviews
all the issues and impacts in a nutshell.

http://fileserver.cfsadmin.org/file/tradejustice/
107062cf31075064c01a3e6cd712eb3d3f56f5a5.pdf

Janet M Eaton, SCC Rep, Trade Justice Network
Mark your calendars for Dec 14th for a live debate in Parliament on the CETA.

More information on the timing when available.

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JULIAN: Reject bad free trade negotiations with the EU, Push for a Fair
Trade agreement with the EU

From: <Julian.P@parl.gc.ca>
Date sent: Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:22:55 -0500
Subject: Reject bad free trade negotiations with the EU, Push for a Fair
Trade agreement with the EU

With the Harper government negotiating an agreement with the European Commission, a new trade monster looms on the horizon. Many of us were in favour in principle of these negotiations. The EU having much more progressive approaches on social and environmental policies which could have helped raise Canadian standards. Unfortunately, what is transpiring at the negotiation table is exactly the opposite of what ordinary Canadians and Europeans need-a progressive approach on trade. Instead of going to higher European standards, Canadian negotiators are pulling progressive European policies down to lower Canadian levels.
The NAFTA investor- state overrides which characterize NAFTA and have been so controversial in North America are being put on the table by the Stephen Harper government. Our municipalities and provinces´ right to ensure that taxpayers´ money is spent to create jobs in the municipalities/provinces on public procurement is also being put on the table. Our supply management system which effectively protects our small family farm sector is being put on the table. Environmental policy, our public health care, and a wide variety of other issues are on the table. That´s why the NDP fought for and secured an initial debate in Parliament on the Canada-EU trade agreement (CETA).
It is set for next Tuesday December 14th 2010 at the House of Commons.
We´re seeking to work with the activist community to ensure that the Canadian public understands what is at stake in this agreement.

Watch live on Tuesday December 14th as we all take note of the serious problems and risks of yet another right wing trade agreement that seeks to undermine and roll back all that is good and progressive in Canada and in Europe.

Please take a moment to sign up and be a part of the movement to push for a Fair Trade deal with the European Union.
Want to get involved?
Sign up for the campaign over email or Facebook to get all the updates and actions alerts and take part!
Join the Push for Fair Trade with EU group on facebook to spread the word

http://www.facebook.com/
event.php?eid=170662636307186&num_event_invites=0

Sign up for action updates by Email
http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/fair-trade-with-EU

Office of Peter Julian, MP
Burnaby-New Westminster
NDP International Trade Critic
Tel: (613) 992-4214 Fax: (613) 947-9500
TTY: (613) 992-4249
CEP 232/SCEP 232
www.peterjulian.ca
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Jul ... 7586973623

[Oscar]

MUST LISTEN: Maude Barlow/Paul Moist on CETA

Dear Friends,

This program on the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement - CETA - with Maude Barlow, Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and Paul Moist, President of CUPE National is produced by CFCR 90.5 FM Community Radio and Making the Links Radio in Saskatoon. Maude Barlow and Paul Moist detail what CETA will do to Canada and why it has to be stopped.

Download at:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/3f1p5g

In radio solidarity,

Don Kossick
www.makingthelinksradio.ca

[Oscar]

CETA UPDATE: March 9, 2012



WIN! Toronto city council seeks exemption from Canada-EU trade deal

http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13956

By Stuart Trew, Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

In a surprising but welcome move, Toronto City Council voted tonight on a motion calling for the Ontario government to exclude Toronto from the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The vote came down around 7 p.m. ET following a truly fascinating debate about free trade that included a passionate speech against NAFTA from conservative councillor David Shiner. Even the mayor, Rob Ford, voted to support the exemption — proving the issues in CETA span traditional political lines and are uniting municipalities against parts of, and in some cases all of, the deal.

Shiner told council there’s “nothing in here” (the CETA) to demonstrate big jobs and economic benefits to Toronto. He even said he’d like to see the City favouring companies in the area more often, to give them opportunities to “bid on our needs.” He admitted “I may be breaking the mold some councillors have put me in” by raising doubts about the value of free trade deals to local manufacturing.

The motion before council, which had been approved almost unanimously by Toronto’s executive committee after presentations from the Toronto Council of Canadians chapter, CAW, Canadian Environmental Law Association, USW, Toronto Food Policy Council, Good Jobs for All Coalition, and other organizations, asked for accelerated dialogue with the Province on the CETA negotiations. But an amendment from Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam to re-include the exemption clause she originally proposed with Councillor Glenn de Baeremaeker was widely accepted by council and passed easily tonight. The new motion adds:

1. City Council request the Province of Ontario issue a clear, permanent exemption of the City of Toronto from the Canada-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and that it otherwise protect the powers of municipalities, hospitals, school boards,utilities, universities and other sub-federal agencies to use public procurement, services and investment as tools to create local jobs and otherwise support local economic development.

2. City Council request the Federal Government to protect the powers of the City - to create local jobs, protect the environment, and provide services and programs as it sees fit - from any restrictions to those powers in the CETA.

The amendment then changed clause 3 of the original motion to read:

3. City Council request the Province of Ontario to explain the scope and content of trade negotiations with the EU, including the details of its procurement, services and investment offers; and to protect City of Toronto’s interests and existing powers in any trade agreement signed between the Government of Canada and the European Union, with particular attention to:

a. The low procurement thresholds of $340,600 for goods and services and $8.5 million for construction
b. Local procurement needs
c. Dispute resolution mechanism

The strong Toronto vote for an exemption, more dialogue and more transparency is sure to cause ripples at this week’s Federation of Canadian Municipalities board meeting in Kitchener, Ontario where Canada’s lead CETA negotiator is set to brief councillors and mayors from across Canada on the state of the EU trade talks. FCM board members will also consider a motion from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities to take water services out of the CETA and other Canadian trade agreements. Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, sent a letter to all FCM board members today encouraging them to support the UBCM motion, and congratulating them for their important engagement with the federal government on the CETA negotiations.

Barlow writes:

The CETA procurement rules differ from existing procurement commitments covering municipal governments under the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT). Perhaps most importantly, the AIT allows provinces and covered municipal entities to apply national preferences (”Buy Canadian” rules) on public contracts as long as this is done in a transparent way. Some municipalities have used this allowance to apply Canadian content quotas on major infrastructure projects such as urban transit and renewable energy. Under the AIT, municipalities can also, in some cases, apply local training or hiring quotas as well as other incentives designed to encourage local development.

This was probably the argument that swayed most Toronto city councillors since the City has many programs in place that do encourage local training, hiring and in some cases local content quotas. Federal government claims that many of these policies will be allowed as long as they do not discriminate fall flat when you consider part of the goal is to support local or national firms, or small- and medium-sized businesses through set-asides, as cities around the world frequently do with procurement.

On this CETA is very clear. Like the WTO Government Procurement Agreement on which it is based, CETA states that, “With regard to covered procurement, a Party, including its procuring entities, shall not seek, take account of, impose or enforce any offset,” where offset is defined as:

any condition or undertaking that encourages local development or improves a Party’s balance-of-payments accounts, such as the use of domestic content, the licensing of technology, investment, counter trade and similar action or requirement.

The Toronto decision today is “a wake up call” to the federal and provincial governments to engage with municipalities on the CETA issue, said Councillor Shelley Caroll during the debate from the floor. Let’s hope they do in fact wake up by taking municipalities off the table.

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'Toronto right to put pressure on McGuinty on CETA’, says Walkom

http://canadians.org/blog/?p=14019

By Brent Patterson, Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom writes about Toronto city council’s request to the Ontario government to seek an exemption for Toronto from the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Walkom highlights, “Like most modern trade agreements, this proposal is less about freeing trade and more about limiting the ability of governments to regulate global business. But unlike Canada’s original free trade pacts with the United States, the Canada-European deal requires immediate buy-in from the provinces. The 27 countries that make up the European Union will play ball only if the 10 provinces that make up Canada agree to do so as well. (So Ontario) does have considerable influence.”

Walkom notes that along with the “secretive” federal government and EU discussions, there are also negotiations that involve the provinces. “Those are the negotiations over how much authority the provinces, including Ontario, are willing to give up. And one of the key areas here is government procurement. Governments often insist on local benefits when they award contracts. Ontario, for example, requires that a portion of any public transit it funds be manufactured in Ontario.”

“Municipal governments routinely demand similar benefits. Such practices are good for the local economy. But they almost invariably fall afoul of strict free trade rules. If, say, a German engineering firm gets a contract to rebuild Toronto sewers it would probably want to use the cheapest suppliers, local or not. Right now, Toronto council can insist on local content as a condition of awarding any contract. Under a comprehensive Canada-EU free trade deal it could not. Which is why Toronto passed Tuesday’s motion.”

“Toronto council’s decision focuses pressure, quite properly, on the Ontario government. Usually, provinces get a pass when free trade is under discussion. This time, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty deserves to have his feet put to the fire.”

The Council of Canadians

Walkom writes, “Stuart Trew of the Council of Canadians says that in the talks so far, Ontario has been fiercely protective of its hydro-electric sector. We can assume that McGuinty is also anxious to protect his government’s ability to subsidize so-called green manufacturing in Ontario, since that has been one of his signature policies. Will Ontario give away local procurement in return? As the Star’s Linda Diebel reported recently, McGuinty seems to be veering that way. For anyone who wants to pressure Queen’s Park on this, the crunch time is fast approaching. That’s what Toronto council has belatedly come to understand.”

To read Stuart’s blog on the Toronto city council decision, please see http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13956.

To read the Linda Diebel column that Walkom refers to - and in which Stuart is quoted - go to
http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13743.

To read Stuart’s op-ed in the Toronto Star this past September calling on McGuinty to put a stop to the CETA talks, see
http://canadians.org/blog/?p=10337.

To join the nearly 50 communities across Canada that have passed resolutions opposed to CETA, please use our ‘Tool Kit’ at http://canadians.org/action/2011/CETA-resolution.html.

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Canada European trade deal poses huge threat to Nova Scotia governments at all levels-CUPE

http://cupe.ca/ceta/canada-european-tra ... poses-huge

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) CUPE Communique March 07, 2012 12:03 ET

TRURO, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - March 7, 2012) - An impending trade deal between Canada and the European Union poses a huge threat to all levels of government in Nova Scotia.

CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh says, "With the House of Assembly set to open on March 29th, Premier Dexter needs to explain to citizens exactly what is being negotiated as part of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Europe.

"If, as a panel of experts suggested this week in Halifax, procurement powers for local governments are part of that deal, it would eliminate any flexibility those governments have in awarding contracts to local or even provincial companies. In other words, 'buy local' goes right out the window," he says.

"As one dramatic example of this," explains Cavanagh, "leaked documents about how the trade talks are proceeding, show that Canada and the provinces have failed to protect drinking water and wastewater services from those procurement rules.

"This would open the door wide to privatization of these public services. Under the CETA agreement foreign companies would have the right to challenge both the process and the terms of covered procurements - creating a significant risk of legal action for public authorities.

Says Cavanagh, "It's time for the government to put an end to the secrecy and let the people of Nova Scotia know what's on the table and what's off the table as part of the CETA trade talks."

Contact Information:

Danny Cavanagh
CUPE Nova Scotia President
(902) 957-0822 (Cell)

John McCracken
CUPE Communications Representative
(902) 455-4180 (o)

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A Cypriot CETA? Trade talks delayed, threatened by Fuel Quality Directive, Toronto conference hears

http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13833

By Stuart Trew, Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Whether the Canada-EU trade talks are advancing as normal or mired in difficulties depends on who you´re talking to or what newspaper you´re reading. "EU free-trade talks still on track, minister says," declared a Montreal Gazette headline after Tuesday´s federal-provincial-territorial trade ministers´ press conference in Ottawa. "Canada says EU free trade
talks may drag on," claimed a National Post story on the same event. Clear as mud. But what more should we expect from the current government?

Then yesterday, at a conference on the CETA negotiations organized by York University and the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Toronto, Danish Head of Mission to Canada Morten Siem expressed his country´s regrets that the deal won´t be Danish, meaning it won´t be ready before the Danish presidency of the EU expires this summer. He said August or September is more likely, putting it in Cyprus´ to-do list. Before you go placing any bets, Milos Barutciski, a partner at
Bennett Jones LL.P. who´s "close to the negotiations," told the same conference "2012 might be a bit ambitious." More on his interesting presentation in a second...

I presented at the conference on a panel with Kirsten Mikadze, a JD candidate at Osgood Law School, and University of Toronto law professor David Schneiderman, about investment and public procurement in the CETA. Other panels looked at how the deal could affect agriculture, food policy and the environment, industrial policy and labour. Jim Stanford, CAW economist, gave what one audience member called a "barn burner" of an attack on the economic case for the CETA in which he picked apart the numbers as he did in his CCPA report "Out of Equilibrium."

Business participation in the discussion was low but not from lack of trying by the organizers, I´m told. Several potential pro-CETA voices backed out or refused to participate. It made Kathleen Sullivan´s presentation on behalf of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance all the more interesting, and even CAFTA´s support for the deal is conditional on real access for beef and pork. Without substantially lowered barriers in the EU to Canadian beef exports, Sullivan will recommend no deal. Does she have any real power over the matter? Who knows. She´s certainly connected, telling the audience at the end of the agriculture panel how transparent the CETA talks have been, based entirely on her own experiences reaching negotiators and trade reps across Canada and Europe. (Not everyone has CAFTA´s budget for this sort of thing.)

Let´s go back to Barutciski, who prefaced his comments early on in the day by warning he was not bound by government rules to give as rosy a picture. The Canadian lawyer said from his perspective the number of bracketed clauses (where Canada and the EU disagree on language in the CETA text) is "quite extensive and they are important," as in entire portions and not just paragraphs. He said he´s surprised the negotiations got this far and is "optimistic" they will have a deal if a little later than both sides had hoped.

FUEL QUALITY DIRECTIVE WILL HAVE BIG IMPACT

But he warned the EU´s "symbolic" climate policy, the Fuel Quality Directive, jeopardizes the Canada-EU trade deal. There is "no way it doesn´t impact on the negotiations and the political engagement," in particular with this current Harper government. Among Barutciski´s other comments:
- Unlike NAFTA, he says there has not been sufficient political engagement over the past two years of negotiations. Difficult issues are being "parked" for politicians to deal with once the trade negotiators can´t get any further on their mandates. He thinks this is going to make it difficult to expend political capital on the deal when it´s needed.

- Canada´s procurement and services offers have been "substantial" but they´re not the end of the story. Canada will have to put more on the table but is waiting for the EU to show a better deal on services where he feels Canada has the most to gain (as an economy that is at least 70 per cent based on services).

- He said Canada´s view of procurement is "parochial and defensive." Showing his bias, he called warnings about local development a "shell game," and that politicians were mostly concerned about losing a political lever for getting votes. The lowest cost bid is always the best deal for municipal governments, he said.

- Canada considers investment protection and services opening very important in the EU. Investment protection has not been attacked yet because the EU has not figured out a way ahead given ongoing frictions between EU and member states on investment.

- The "place to watch" on intellectual property rules is the health sector and pharmaceuticals. "Some of the changes will raise health costs," he said, so it´s "not insignificant and we need to pay attention." Whether we get the "bang for buck from research," as the brand name drug companies are promising, is tough to believe when the companies are based in Switzerland or the United States.

On this last point, Stefan Oeter, a law professor at the University of Hamburg, added that if EU civil society groups fighting the European ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) realize how closely it resembles the CETA intellectual property chapter, it could make it even more difficult to pass the CETA through the European Parliament.

WHAT´S IN IT FOR ONTARIO?

Hopping backwards a few days, on Monday the Canadian International Council - Toronto Branch organized its own CETA event on the 58th floor of the Scotiabank building at King and Yonge streets. The guest speakers were Gordon Jansen, acting manager in the trade policy branch of Ontario´s Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, and Jason Langrish, executive director of the Canada-Europe Roundtable for Business (CERT), the main business lobby group supporting the EU negotiations on both sides of the Atlantic. CERT also organized the Energy Roundtable, whose "high-level, thematic conferences" are meant to:

- Promote Canada as a secure, stable and growing supplier of energy in a resource constrained world.
- Explore the commercial opportunities that this presents to foreign investors and service providers.
- Spur independent thinking and debate amongst the key industry players on how to meet Canada´s ambition to become a clean energy powerhouse. (But remember, CETA has nothing to do with the tar sands or the Fuel Quality Directive. Nothing at all, say negotiators.)

I was mostly interested in what Jansen had to say, though there was little new information to come out of the event. A few things I jotted down from Jansen´s presentation:

- This is the first "and possibly the last" time the provinces will be at the table in a trade negotiation. (A bit cryptic. Possibly the federal government didn´t appreciate the dynamic, which was forced on them by the EU as a requirement of negotiating.)
- The EU has been taken aback by the persistence of the provinces (tougher than past EU trade talks, he said).
- The Bulgarian language is a trade barrier to Ontario firms. (As an example of the non-tariff barriers to Ontario´s service companies in the EU was having to abide by member state laws, which in Bulgaria would be written in Bulgarian.)
- Canada is the first industrialized country to negotiate a trade deal with the EU (which will surprise the South Koreans who signed a comprehensive FTA with the EU in 2010 and who produced the second best selling car in Canada last month).
- Ontario fully supports equal investment protections to what´s in NAFTA, despite Ontario´s uniformly negative experience with recent investor lawsuits against environmental and resource conservation measures.
- Ontario and the other provinces will not put procurement by utilities on the table until Quebec does. If Quebec gives way, we could see major new concessions across Canada further affecting municipal governments.
- Ontario will judge a good or balanced deal in large measure based on the intellectual property rules, rules of origin for auto, and services opening (ex. work permits easier to get for Canadian professionals in Europe).

A next round of CETA negotiations - and it is a full round in everything but name, according to Barutciski yesterday, as was the February round in Ottawa - takes place the weeks of March 12 and March 19 in Brussels. That will be Round Number 11 for those still counting. We´ll keep you posted.

Tags: Canada-EU Trade, CERT, European Union Centre of Excellence, European Union Chamber of Commerce in Toronto, Investor-state, Osgoode Hall Law School, procurement, Rules of Origin, York University

[Oscar]

CETA: Provinces Failing To Defend Themselves In Canada-EU Free Trade Negotiations, Says Lawyer

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/07/09/
ceta-canada-eu-free-trade_n_1660348.html?utm_hp_ref=canada

Posted: 07/09/2012 6:06 pm Updated: 07/09/2012 7:40 pm

OTTAWA — Canadian provinces are either ill-equipped or incompetent when it comes to defending their rights in a massive and overarching free trade agreement Canada is currently negotiating with the European Union, says a lawyer who has studied leaked drafts of the text.

“The provinces are selling us out and they are not doing their homework,” Steven Shrybman, an international trade and public interest lawyer, told The Huffington Post Canada.

The federal government, along with provincial and territorial representatives, is finishing up negotiations on CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which it hopes to sign with the EU by the end of the year. The deal, the government says, will boost bilateral trade and inject $12-billion annually into the Canadian economy.

But critics decry what they’ve seen of the deal, which applies to sub-national governments for the first time, saying it will give European corporations the ability to compete for local contracts on everything from school buses to municipal water systems.

They are also concerned foreign companies will be able to challenge municipal or provincial regulations that favour local jobs or regional development.

Though Ottawa will sign off on the final agreement, for the first time provincial negotiators are at the table. Municipalities, as creatures of the provinces, are represented by provincial negotiators.

In a legal brief prepared for CUPE, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Shrybman studied the list of items Canada sought to exempt from international competition. He found that while the European Union had asked for blanket exemptions to protect many public utilities in various sectors, most provinces and the territories have not done the same.

“There is a dramatic disparity between what the Europeans have put on the table and what we have put on the table,” Shrybman said. “They are preserving their ability to govern in the public interest in far more ways then we have.”

Paul Moist, CUPE’s national president, said the union was sharing the legal brief as a “wake-up” call for premiers.

“Why are European member countries seeking exemptions for their water and their public transit systems and we are not, are there not red flags being raised by the conduct of the Europeans?" he asked.

Moist, whose members work in many sectors covered under CETA — such as school boards, the health care system, municipalities and social services agencies — said the free trade agreements negotiated in the 1980s and 1990s exempted most of those services.

"The opposite is happening here, so CETA represents pretty uncharted territory for Canada," Moist said. “If you don’t exempt something, it is included."

Under NAFTA rules, any rights granted to European corporations under CETA would also automatically apply to North American companies.

Canada’s initial offers, leaked earlier this year and circulated by the Trade Justice Network and Reseau quebecois sur l’integration continentale (RQIC), show wide variations between the provinces. Manitoba, for example, wants to limit market access to foreign providers and investors in fishing, forestry, food, liquor, beer and wine retail trade, agriculture, energy, recreational services and insurance. Other provinces, including Ontario, Quebec and B.C., sought few or no restrictions.

Some provinces may be doing a poor job of defending their interests simply because they don’t fully understand the effects the deal could have, Shrybman said.

“There is general illiteracy in the political leadership of provincial governments. They’ve never confronted anything like this before. Free trade is kind of old news to them and the fact that the dramatic transformation of how these agreements would apply to sub-national governments I don’t think has been properly conveyed,” he said.

Shrybman believes some provinces have not sought exemptions because they are led by parties that believe in smaller government and more privatization.

Without negotiated exemptions, the provinces and territories will be permanently bound by the agreement. Future governments won’t be able to establish new policies or public services without paying out millions — or possibly hundreds of millions of dollars — in compensation to foreign companies who challenge them, Shrybman said.

MUNICIPALITIES’ CONCERNS

Concerns about the trade deal prompted dozens of Canadian municipalities to pass resolutions asking their respective provinces to exclude them from CETA, including: Toronto, Victoria, London, Ont., and Sackville, New Brunswick.

In Baie-Comeau, Que., a township on the northern coast of the Saint Lawrence River, Councillor Alain Larouche brought forward a motion to try to exclude his municipality from CETA because he wanted to ensure local companies could be favoured in government contracting.

“International competition could jeopardize our local businesses and companies, so we sought a form of protectionism,” Larouche told HuffPost.

“We’re in the regions and our industries are more fragile, they are a lot less competitive than international firms. It’s obvious for us that our companies are a generator of jobs and that’s why we want to protect our jobs,” he said in a phone interview.

Those concerns were echoed by Bill Holmes, a former councillor in the Ontario township of Alnwick/Haldimand. Holmes, who recently stepped down due to a cancer diagnosis, said he wanted his municipality excluded from CETA because he was concerned it would affect the council’s ability to establish ‘buy-local’ policies and create good full-time jobs with benefits for the town.

In New Tecumseh, Ont., Councillor Jim Stone fears a loss of control with new international players.

“What are the benefits and what are the costs? We have never received that equation,” he told HuffPost.

For example, if the town wants to bid on water or sewage systems, “we would have to include the European community to bid on these things and you would lose total control over environmental aspects (and) the things that you would like to see local,” he said. “It puts our workers in jeopardy."

Government and business leaders say CETA’s $340,000 procurement threshold — the minimum cost at which international firms are allowed to bid — in the goods-and-services sector and $8.5 million for construction projects is higher than what is already in place through the Agreement on Internal Trade. But for Stone, that’s still too low.

“You don’t get much for $300,000 in a municipal service today,” he said.

CETA will give corporations further powers to influence Canadian laws, Stone told HuffPost.

“(They’ll say) you can’t pass a law that benefits your own people because we are not going to do it over here. You know, that’s what happens so the whole bar gets lowered. We are trying to raise our bar and they come and knock it off the peg and say you start back down here,” the New Tecumseh Councillor said.

City Councillor Sav Dhaliwal of Burnaby, B.C., said that while he is a staunch supporter of free trade, local politicians want to know what they are being forced to sign on to. Burnaby has led an effort for several years to exempt all municipalities from CETA.

“We have never found out clearly, or at least to a point, what is on the table, what is being exempted, so that is a part of the frustration for us,” Dhaliwal said.

THE PROVINCES RESPOND

Andy Watson, a public affairs officer with the British Columbia Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, said he won’t provide the list of exemptions British Columbia has sought because the negotiations are ongoing.

“Making public our negotiating positions would undercut our leverage not only in the CETA talks but in other negotiations as well,” he told HuffPost.

Manitoba, however, said it had put forward a lengthy list of exemptions with Manitoba Hydro at the top.

“Manitoba Hydro is Manitoba’s oil. Every year, it brings hundreds of millions of dollars into our provincial economy. We’re continuing to build it for future generations, for reliability and to secure international export sales,” said Jodee Mason, a press secretary for the province's cabinet.

Mason said Manitoba and its lead negotiator met regularly with municipalities and consulted them throughout the negotiations. As far as they are aware, not one municipality passed a motion asking to be excluded from CETA.

Quebec, which pushed for the EU free trade deal, believes it may reap greater benefit from CETA than other provinces because of pre-existing commercial roots on the other side of the Atlantic, its geographic proximity to the European market and a shared culture.

Jean-Pierre D’Auteuil, a spokesman in Quebec’s Department of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, told HuffPost that nothing in CETA would prevent its municipalities from pursuing their socio-economic goals.

“Municipalities will be able to continue to adopt and modify rules, as long as these rules are applied in a non-discriminatory fashion,” D’Auteuil said.

Federation of Canadian Municipalities President Karen Leibovici, who speaks on behalf of the umbrella organization representing municipalities across the country, said the FCM identified several concerns about CETA: that procurement thresholds were too low, that new administration processes could increase costs, that the barring of preferential treatment for country of origin would negatively impact the strategic or public interest considerations of municipalities, that transit and environmental protection should be allowed “within reason” and that the municipalities would have a role to play in the dispute resolution process.

Without a final draft to examine, it’s too early to say if the deal has met the federation’s expectations, said Leibovici, a city councillor in Edmonton.

But she’s confident International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Canada’s lead negotiator Steve Verheul will defend the interests of municipalities. The men have pledged to uphold a list of seven guiding principles put forward by the federation, she said.

If municipalities have specific concerns they should speak to their province and work with municipal and territorial associations, Leibovici said.

The Council of Canadians, along with CUPE, is urging municipalities to do just that.

“CETA is not about trade at all,” Maude Barlow, the Council’s national chairperson, told HuffPost in an email. “Most trade with Europe is tariff free now. CETA is about giving corporations in Canada the right to challenge European rules that protect domestic economies, jobs, farmers and resources and European corporations the right to do the same in Canada.”

Ed Fast’s spokesman Rudy Husny insists CETA will be a boon for Canada and will open the largest procurement market in the world, worth about $2.3-trillion annually, while boosting job opportunities in this country.

“There are no costs — there are only benefits; we are going to remove tariffs and we are going to increase trade,” Husny said.

Nothing in the agreement will prevent governments from regulating in the public interest, in areas such as the environment, labour and health and safety, Husny added.

Local governments will be allowed to continue to give preferential treatment to hometown companies through grants, loans and fiscal incentives, he said, while research and development, financial services, public administration, education and health care will all be excluded from the deal.

Brianna Ames, press secretary to Ontario’s Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid, noted Ottawa has asked for exclusions for health care, public education, and social services, such as child care, welfare and employment insurance, but she would not discuss what exemptions or exclusions Ontario has sought because the negotiations are still ongoing.

“We are pursuing in these negotiations the best deal. We can’t look at things in isolation,” she said.

Any requests by municipalities to be exempted from the trade deal would have to be agreed to by the parties and could impact other areas of the discussion, she said.

“At this stage of the discussions, it is to be determined how those requests would be treated," Ames added.

“WE ARE GOING TO GET STIFFED”

Stone, the New Tecumseh councillor, doesn’t trust Ontario to a sign a deal that won't penalize his community.

“We’ve heard that before, 'Trust us, eh? We’re from the government, we are here to help you.' That’s almost like an oxymoron. No, I think we are going to get stiffed,” he told HuffPost.

Ontario kept municipalities in the dark and, as representatives of the level of government closest to the people, Stone feels citizens are being excluded.

Dhaliwal said B.C. municipalities are getting the run-a-around from their province, which is insisting it is not at liberty to inform them about the status of the negotiations.

“For us, it’s far too late if the ink is already put in the paper to say well this is in and this is out,” he said.

Everyone believes in international trade agreements, Dhaliwal said, but the municipalities are concerned CETA will affect the delivery of services that councillors like himself are responsible for providing to their residents and they want the opportunity to propose certain changes or give their endorsement.

“We want to make sure that they are not going to suffer, but we won’t know, I don’t think we’ll ever know because by the time we hear about it everything will be signed, sealed and delivered.”

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