Yesterday (March 18) at a parliamentary trade committee meeting, Liberal trade critic Wayne Easter requested a briefing from Canada’s lead CETA negotiator on how the Canada-EU trade negotiations are going. A no brainer, right?Wrong.
The Conservative MPs on committee took the meeting in-camera, so there could be no record of the discussion, then (we must assume) voted against Easter’s motion.
Yes, Conservative trade committee members voluntarily declined a briefing — declined more information! — on the CETA negotiations, which are said to be nearing completion. They did this even though their counterparts in the European Parliament are kept up-to-date by EU negotiators, and even have access to many Canada-EU negotiating texts.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Conservatives on the trade committee to do their job!
Conservative MPs on trade committee might not care what’s going on in the increasingly controversial CETA negotiations. But a growing number of Canadians do care! We’re concerned about how CETA could undermine Canada’s banking and financial rules in a way that will make our economy less stable. We don’t like how CETA could raise drug prices by giving EU- and US-based pharmaceutical companies more patent protections. Canadian municipalities don’t appreciate that they’re going to lose the right to “buy local” from time to time, as a way to create jobs and protect the environment.
Write to trade committee members today to ask them to do their job by demanding an immediate briefing from Canada’s lead CETA negotiator. Their emails are below, and you can copy and paste this list to your email software or program. Let us know if you get a response, and keep up the pressure if you receive another “no” from MPs to a parliamentary update on the Canada-EU trade deal.
Members of the Standing Committee on International Trade
Emails: rob.merrifield@parl.gc.ca, don.davies@parl.gc.ca, wayne.easter@parl.gc.ca, ron.cannan@parl.gc.ca, gerald.keddy@parl.gc.ca, Jasbir.Sandhu@parl.gc.ca, russ.hiebert@parl.gc.ca, Marc-Andre.Morin@parl.gc.ca, bev.shipley@parl.gc.ca, ed.holder@parl.gc.ca, Annick.Papillon@parl.gc.ca, devinder.shory@parl.gc.ca
Be sure to CC party leaders: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca), NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair (thomas.mulcair@parl.gc.ca), Liberal Leader Bob Rae (bob.rae@parl.gc.ca), Green Party Leader Elizabeth May (Elizabeth.May@parl.gc.ca), Bloc Québécois Leader Daniel Paillé (dpaille@bloc.org)
Trade Committee Members: Rob Merrifield (CPC, chair), Don Davies (NDP, vice-chair), Wayne Easter (LPC, vice-chair), Ron Cannan (CPC), Gerald Keddy (CPC), Jasbir Sandhu (NDP), Russ Hiebert (CPC), Marc-André Morin (NDP), Bev Shipley (CPC), Ed Holder (CPC), Annick Papillon (NDP), Devinder Shory (CPC)
Original Article
Source: canadians.org
Author: Stuart Trew
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