Canada’s unwillingness to endorse a proposal at the World Trade Organization to make COVID-related vaccines, treatments, and technologies more affordable and readily available for all countries is a glaring example of this mismatch between words and deeds.
Trade
“We have seen during COVID-19 how these trade and investment agreements create unemployment and compromise access to necessary public goods and services like medical supplies and equipment. This report is intended to start looking closely at these issues. ” – Larry Brown, NUPGE President
This report examines the impact of COVID-19 on global trade, trade agreements, and trade negotiations.
Unions and others who believe the public good should come ahead of corporate profits must continue to fight to protect public services.
An overview of how international trade and investment agreements pose a threat to public services.
"Canada and the E.U. should continue to support a type of economy which profits more than just the privileged few."
Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA): not the progressive deal Canadians were promised.
“Most of the long-term problems with NAFTA that have caused so much grief were not fixed,” says Larry Brown. “We’ll still lose factories to right-to-work states and we’ll still face wage stagnation caused by direct competition with lower wage countries, both the US and Mexico."
This is a bad deal for Canadians. Even the government, trying to prove this is a good deal, released a study that proves the opposite. The so-called benefits of the TPP are so minor that we need a magnifying glass to see them, while the loss of jobs and the stagnation of wages will be unfortunately far too easy to spot.
"We do not need our government to be bullied into a bad trade deal." — Larry Brown, NUPGE President
“The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership is an affront to democracy and a threat to economic equality. It will create a private court system for foreign investors, giving them the right to sue democratically elected governments. And it will rig the Canadian economy in favour of powerful corporations. It is an outright betrayal of workers. It will do nothing to stop climate change, and it will certainly exacerbate income and wealth inequality.” — Larry Brown, NUPGE President
“The ongoing NAFTA negotiations present a unique opportunity for Canada to pursue a new model for more equitable, socially just and sustainable trade." — Larry Brown, President, National Union of Public and General Employees
“This is a bad deal for Canadian workers, a bad deal for Canadian families, and a bad deal for the Canadian economy. There’s absolutely no reason why Prime Minister Trudeau should be endorsing this trade agreement.” — Larry Brown, NUPGE President
“Canadians have repeatedly expressed their opposition to the TPP, so the Prime Minister has no public mandate to support it,” — Larry Brown, NUPGE President
“A bad agreement with good labour rights is still a bad agreement.” — Larry Brown, NUPGE President
“Regarding the labour provisions, it’s a step in the right direction to see that the U.S. government is promoting core ILO standards such as the right to collective bargaining. And the proposal that labour and environmental standards should be enforceable is also a positive development. But the other language makes the burden of proof too high, and the scope too limited.” — Larry Brown, NUPGE President
“The TPP is about strengthening the rights of corporations at the expense of citizens, workers, and the environment. The costs of ratifying the TPP far outweigh any small benefit that may be gained. -- Larry Brown, NUPGE President