Letter to the Editor of the Victoria News, 24 August 2005
Scott Brison, federal Public Works Minister, told Victoria’s Chamber of Commerce that trade agreements prevent Canada from favouring domestic producers (“Canada can’t discriminate,” Victoria News, August 24). This demonstrates once again why our country should withdraw from the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), NAFTA and the WTO, and enter into negotiations for forward-looking trade agreements that put people and the environment first.
Neoliberal pundits claim there is no alternative to corporate-driven globalization, that removing trade barriers brings down costs and lifts up underdeveloped countries. The reality is that these agreements undermine labour and environmental standards, and erode living conditions in the Third World and in rich countries like Canada.
The WTO dictates that Canada cannot favour domestic producers of goods and services. This means that products – such as tomatoes from Chile or pencils from Taiwan – are shipped half way across the world, using tons of fossil fuel with a huge environmental cost. Some imports are inevitable – like coffee for those unable (like myself) to kick the habit in northern countries like Canada. But our government has the responsibility to ensure these specialized products don’t come at the expense of workers’ rights or the environment. Other aspects of the FTA, NAFTA and the WTO, such as restrictions on public enterprise, drive up the costs of social services, medical care, education, energy, and transportation.
Canada should not function as an island, with no connection to the outside world. But the international connections we establish must have as their bottom line the improvement of living standards for ordinary people and the protection of our shared environment. Profit considerations of corporations are less important than fundamental questions of human rights and sustainability.
Brison and his colleagues in the federal government would be wise to abandon the mythology of ‘free trade’ and display some courage in the international arena.
