Update on CETA Activities re London City Council

October 3, 2011

Greetings CoC Campaigners against CETA,

I have just learned from Grant Hopcroft, Director of Intergovernmental and Communty Liaison for the City of London, that our City Council unanimously passed this evening the attached resolution (see below) regarding CETA. It comes as a result of the submission I made to the Finance and Administration Committee last Wednesday morning, with discussion continued this afternoon when the Committee supported it and passed it on to the entire Council. I did not get to speak today. I gave a five-minute talk on the issue Wednesday, but no time was allowed for me to answer questions as I had expected, because the Committee was preoccupied with the big new project for downtown development.

The approved resolution expresses concern regarding potential disadvantages for municipalities from the impact of CETA, and recognizes the role of CoC in bringing the issue before them. But it does not ask for the clear, permanent exemption for local governments from CETA that we requested.

We hope that Maude Barlow will include on her CETA tour in late October a return visit to London, which might come just after the final draft of CETA has been made public. Then we could have another chance to approach City Council, this time not with speculation about CETA, but with accurate information.

Don't forget our regular CoC meeting at 7 at Carson Library, Tuesday October 11. (No rest for the weary.) We will focus for CoC members on the CETA issue, and I will have some exciting developments to report from my attendance this past weekend at the American Monetary Institute meeting in Chicago.

Best wishes,

George Crowell

The following resolution regarding the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union (CETA), BE ENDORSED:

Whereas the Government of Canada and the European Union have been negotiating a trade agreement known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA);

And Whereas the Canada-European Union relationship holds great potential for growing Canada’s trade and collective prosperity;

And Whereas the Council of Canadians London Chapter has provided City Council with information and their concerns regarding CETA negotiations currently underway between Canada and the European Union;

And Whereas the Corporation of the City of London supports the guiding principles as set out by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and endorsed by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO);

Be it Resolved that the Corporation of the City of London requests the Federal Government and the Province of Ontario to continue to ensure that the municipal sectors’ interests are represented in the ongoing negotiations; and

That the federal government’s negotiations ensure that the FCM guiding principles will be fully reflected in any trade agreement reached between Canada and the European Union; and

That the federal and Ontario governments provide FCM and AMO with regular, detailed updates on the status of the European Union trade negotiations to the fullest extent possible.

This resolution be forwarded to the Minister of International Trade; our local MPs, the Premier of Ontario, our local MPPs, FCM, AMO and the London Chapter of the Council of Canadians.