Canada-EU trade

Irish farmers raise volume on opposition to Canadian imports in CETA

| May 20, 2013

The Irish Farmers Association has released its strongest statement to date opposed to Canadian demands for higher beef and pork quotas in the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. The IFA is asking the Irish trade and agriculture ministers, in their roles under the EU Presidency (which Ireland holds until July), "to intervene strongly at the highest level to prevent what is being flagged as a very bad deal for the Irish and European beef and livestock farmers."

Ontario government wants drug patents taken out of Canada-EU deal

Stuart Trew

| May 14, 2013

The online news journal iPolitics.ca reports there is more in the way of a Canada-European Union trade and investment deal than a disagreement over beef and cheese.

Five reasons Canada should NOT ratify a Canada-EU free trade agreement

Stuart Trew

| April 29, 2013

Jock Finlayson of the Business Council of British Columbia recently wrote a column for Troy Media on the virtues of the Canada-European Union free trade deal. He listed five reasons why he thinks the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, should be ratified as soon as possible.

But there are at least as many reasons why Prime Minister Stephen Harper should walk away from the CETA negotiations. Most relate to the ways that CETA is not about trade at all but about making dubious policy reforms that constrain our economic, social and environmental policy options in the future.

A transatlantic free trade mistake -- for Canada and the United States

Maude Barlow

| March 20, 2013

The United States and European Union have taken the free trade plunge.

President Obama announced in February that he will start talks with the EU on a transatlantic trade, investment, and regulatory pact. Last week, the European Commission sent a draft secret mandate to member states on how far they're willing to go to clinch it. And the usual business lobbies have already begun to celebrate what they hope to be an important (for them) leap forward for corporate globalization.

The Mexican government is allegedly seeking a spot in the transatlantic talks with speculation Canada may join. But for all three NAFTA countries the pact would be a mistake, as Canadians are learning too late.

Harper: Don’t buy what France is peddling on drug patents in Canada-EU trade deal

March 15, 2013 |

There are many reasons to oppose the Canada-EU trade deal, but the idea that Harper would use the deal to basically sign a blank cheque over to Big Pharma is one of the more disturbing.

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big pharma Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) Canada-EU trade Canadian Health Coalition COC pharmacare

Canada's banking regulations under attack in EU trade deal

Stuart Trew

| February 28, 2013

According to a short news piece by Canadian Press, "Canada is struggling to maintain the traditional standards it imposes to protect financial services in Canada from foreign control and financial instability." CP obtained a February 1 version of the services chapter of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which was circulated to EU member states, showing that "Canada's vaunted banking system is on the negotiating table."

Canada, Norway defend seal hunt at WTO this week

Stuart Trew

| February 21, 2013

Canada and Norway made their initial arguments this week at the World Trade Organization against the European Union's 2009 ban on seal products. Their performances were immediately attacked by animal rights activists watching the proceedings from WTO headquarters in Geneva.

Columnists

How to manufacture a factoid: The government's $12-billion claim about CETA

$12 billion. That number keeps popping up in debates about the CETA. It's the increase in Canadian GDP the federal government claims will result from the deal.

The number has been repeated so often, it now shows up unsourced in routine reporting on the negotiations. CETA "is a massive trade deal expected to boost the Canadian economy by $12 billion," opened a recent, typical article.

But where did this factoid come from? Very few reporters or policy-makers know (or bother citing) the original source. It was generated by a computer model built by three European economists, retained by the Canadian and EU governments to work on the 2008 joint economic study of the CETA.

Tags:

Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) Canada-EU trade Canadian economy CETA GDP Harper government trade deals

Water privatization, Internet restrictions a trans-Atlantic concern in Canada-EU trade talks

Stuart Trew

| October 23, 2012

The Trade Justice Network and Réseau québécois sur l'intégration continentale (RQIC) co-hosted a media teleconference on parts of the Canada-EU trade deal that have become very controversial in Europe.

New report fights Harper's CETA deception

Stuart Trew

| July 19, 2012

In April 2012, the Harper government launched a propaganda campaign in response to growing criticism of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The campaign material, housed on a new DFAIT webpage, attempts to respond to several claims about CETA which the government believes to be myths.

Canada-EU trade

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