Hey London! Some Local Concerns about CETA

Hey London!

Thinking about CATERPILLAR? If NAFTA had NOT been created, this corporation would never have been able to drop its workers the way it did. Do we want a continuous stream of CATERPILLAR situations in London in spreading sectors including universities, hospitals, and schools? Say no to a much uglier, more comprehensive version of NAFTA called CETA. If the rights of workers and their families’ futures matter to you, then you will want to speak up about CETA.

Hey London!

Remember EPCOR nearly buying London Hydro? If this had happened post-CETA, it would not have been possible to stop. CETA enables all sorts of corporations, even ones like EPCOR who have shares in ugly activity like the Alberta Tar Sands, to buy our energy and our water utilities. If we allow CETA to pass, we won’t be able to stop the purchase of London Hydro to the highest bidder. It will likely go to a French corporation like Veolia or Suez who has bought up enormous depths of public water around the world. If the sale of water from the Great Lakes matters to you, then speak up about CETA.

Hey London!

Care about the quality of our Canada Post mail service, our garbage collection, our Victoria Hospital, our school boards, Fanshawe college and UWO? All of these and more are at risk from partial to full sale to corporations overseas. When major corporations from Europe or the NAFTA partners, the US and Mexico, buy our services like the London Transit Commission, we won’t have any say over hours of service, types of service or rate of fees. If public service matters to you, then speak up about CETA.

Hey London!

Care about our city jobs? When CETA passes, there will be more downsizing of city jobs. The government will tell us that more jobs are created but has that been your experience of free trade over the past few decades? Expect more part-timing and more cuts to benefits in fields as diverse as the auto industry to health care. If your job and your friends and families’ jobs matter to you, then speak up about CETA.

Hey London!

Care about our local farmer’s markets? If we allow CETA to pass, more local farms will go under. Farming conditions will actually get worse. It will become illegal for farmers to save their seeds and they will be forced to buy them from major corporations like Monsanto. Further, hormones in beef and dairy will proliferate. If the health of farmers and the food system matters to you, then speak up about CETA.

Hey London!

Do you like to buy local? Would you rather spend your money in Wortley Village or one of London’s last-standing downtown businesses? If we allow CETA to pass, local contracts in many areas from goods to construction will be put at risk. The global free trade movement is the opposite of building the local economy. Foreign mega corporations will be allowed to sue our provincial and municipal governments for trying to build London’s local economy if it decreases their profits. One hundred and sixty million has already been given to American corporations under the rules of NAFTA’s corporate protection called Investor State. If you care about buying local, then speak up about CETA.

Hey London!

Do you already feel that there is a disproportionate amount of corporate media messaging in this city? CETA does not protect public broadcasting. If we allow CETA to pass, we can expect that less funding will go to our local stations and less Canadian content will be ensured. Further, the CBC will be at risk of being sold outright never to be returned to Canadian hands again. This is what trade does. It disallows newly elected governments to make new decisions for decades. Trade law is binding. If Canadian media channels from TV to radio to magazines matters to you, then you will want to help protect us and future generations from CETA.

Hey London!

Do you want to protect our natural areas like the Sifton Bog, Meadowlily Woods, and more? If we allow CETA to pass, foreign corporations will have much more influence in zoning laws than they have already had and be able to do with our green spaces as they wish. Our city bylaws will not protect our environmentally sensitive areas from development nor create a situation where we could extend upon what already is protected for future generations. If land, water and species matters to you, then so does CETA. Stop CETA now!

Hey London!

Do you think that all children have a right to corporate-free education? Kids have enough pressure from internet, videos, and tv already. In British Columbia, school boards have passed resolutions to exempt them from CETA. CETA does not protect the MUSH sector – municipal universities, schools and hospitals. If we allow CETA to pass, then our public education is at risk of purchase in part or whole from corporations. In the United States they already have some corporate scripted classes and mandatory commercials in schools because their schools are no longer publically owned. If you do not want London’s children influenced by corporate branding or consumerist views at school, then CETA matters to you. If you believe our government should invest more in the public education of our children, then trade justice matters to you. Contribute to this vision of our traditional Canada by speaking up against CETA.

Our city and our country are not investor states! For more information: www.stopceta.ca

Brought to you by concerned Londoners from STOPCETA–
a committee of The Council of Canadians – London chapter

For the pdf version of this document click here.