Vancouver Critical Mass
Wallonia fights for us against CETA
Message from Leadnow.ca:
Have you been following the story about Wallonia, the region of Belgium that’s refused to sign CETA, a toxic trade deal that has many of the worst parts of the Canada-China FIPA and the TPP? [1]
Wallonia stood with millions of us - across Canada and Europe - to delay a CETA, a deal that could allow banned chemicals into our food and allow big business to sue our government in tribunals if they think our laws affect their expected profits.[2]
When negotiations resumed Thursday, Wallonia was under HUGE pressure to crack, and reading the headlines, you might think they finally gave in. But they didn’t. [3]
In fact, they reaffirmed that Belgium won’t ratify CETA as it stands, and made a compromise deal to have the European Court of Justice decide whether it’s legal to have a special court where foreign investors can sue our governments.[4] CETA affects us all and Wallonia deserves a HUGE show of support from people across Canada.
That’s why we’re partnering up with 38 Degrees, our people-powered sister organization in the UK, to send the Walloons a big message, showing them they’re not alone against CETA. CETA can still be defeated by Wallonia and other Parliaments across Europe, and it’ll be a huge boost for them to know the people across Canada support them.
Can you sign the thank you letter to Wallonia? Click here to add your name:
Here’s what the thank you message says (it will be translated into French):
CETA contains many of the worst bits of its dangerous cousin, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If ratified, the deal will trigger job losses, suppress wages, and handcuff our democracy by giving multinational corporations special rights to sue Canada in international tribunals if our policies get in the way of their profits.[5]
Here’s what Paul Magnette, premier of Belgium’s Walloon region, had to say about Thursday’s compromise:
The powerful corporate lobbies that are driving these kinds of dangerous, costly and lopsided deals are finally losing control. While the battles against CETA and the TPP aren’t over, people-power is winning, and we owe the Walloons a thank you!
We can, and will, stop CETA. Can you take a moment to thank the one government brave enough to stand up to the corporate Goliaths? They need our support to stay strong. Click here to add your name to the thank you card.
We're in this together,
Amara and Brittany, on behalf of the Leadnow team
Sources:
[1] BBC News: Belgium Walloons block key EU Ceta trade deal with Canada
[2] Canadian academics’ Open Letter to the Parliament of Wallonia and Belgian voters on CETA and its foreign investor protection system
[3] Belgians agree to resolve impasse, but CETA far from finalized
[4] Investor rights to be judged by highest court in Europe as part of Belgian CETA deal
[5] CETA Without Blinders: How Cutting ‘Trade Costs and More’ Will Cause Unemployment, Inequality and Welfare Losses
[6] Paul Magnette facebook video
Leadnow.ca is an independent campaigning community that brings people together to hold government accountable, deepen our democracy and take action for the common good. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
Have you been following the story about Wallonia, the region of Belgium that’s refused to sign CETA, a toxic trade deal that has many of the worst parts of the Canada-China FIPA and the TPP? [1]
Wallonia stood with millions of us - across Canada and Europe - to delay a CETA, a deal that could allow banned chemicals into our food and allow big business to sue our government in tribunals if they think our laws affect their expected profits.[2]
When negotiations resumed Thursday, Wallonia was under HUGE pressure to crack, and reading the headlines, you might think they finally gave in. But they didn’t. [3]
In fact, they reaffirmed that Belgium won’t ratify CETA as it stands, and made a compromise deal to have the European Court of Justice decide whether it’s legal to have a special court where foreign investors can sue our governments.[4] CETA affects us all and Wallonia deserves a HUGE show of support from people across Canada.
That’s why we’re partnering up with 38 Degrees, our people-powered sister organization in the UK, to send the Walloons a big message, showing them they’re not alone against CETA. CETA can still be defeated by Wallonia and other Parliaments across Europe, and it’ll be a huge boost for them to know the people across Canada support them.
Can you sign the thank you letter to Wallonia? Click here to add your name:
Here’s what the thank you message says (it will be translated into French):
We want to say a big thank you to the citizens of Wallonia for having blocked the worst parts of CETA - the dangerous Canada-EU trade deal. Millions of people all across Canada and Europe support what you're doing.If we reach 30,000 signatures by the end of the day, we’ll deliver the message straight to the Embassy, and place thank you messages in Wallonia’s biggest newspaper. Earlier this week, news broke that Canadian academics were urging Belgium to stop CETA and it made major news across the country.[3] Now, let’s show them that we still have their backs.
CETA contains many of the worst bits of its dangerous cousin, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If ratified, the deal will trigger job losses, suppress wages, and handcuff our democracy by giving multinational corporations special rights to sue Canada in international tribunals if our policies get in the way of their profits.[5]
Here’s what Paul Magnette, premier of Belgium’s Walloon region, had to say about Thursday’s compromise:
‘Thank you for your messages of support… it was because of you that I was able to resist pressure and ultimatums, and today we can say the fight was worth it. There will never be secret arbitration in this deal. All social and environmental standards and public services will be protected.’ [6]Civil society support for the Walloons is working, and the fight is far from over! Blocking CETA is not just a win for our environment, democracy, and communities across Europe and Canada -- it’s a momentum builder. It’s one giant domino crashing down that we can use to topple the next: the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The powerful corporate lobbies that are driving these kinds of dangerous, costly and lopsided deals are finally losing control. While the battles against CETA and the TPP aren’t over, people-power is winning, and we owe the Walloons a thank you!
We can, and will, stop CETA. Can you take a moment to thank the one government brave enough to stand up to the corporate Goliaths? They need our support to stay strong. Click here to add your name to the thank you card.
We're in this together,
Amara and Brittany, on behalf of the Leadnow team
Sources:
[1] BBC News: Belgium Walloons block key EU Ceta trade deal with Canada
[2] Canadian academics’ Open Letter to the Parliament of Wallonia and Belgian voters on CETA and its foreign investor protection system
[3] Belgians agree to resolve impasse, but CETA far from finalized
[4] Investor rights to be judged by highest court in Europe as part of Belgian CETA deal
[5] CETA Without Blinders: How Cutting ‘Trade Costs and More’ Will Cause Unemployment, Inequality and Welfare Losses
[6] Paul Magnette facebook video
Leadnow.ca is an independent campaigning community that brings people together to hold government accountable, deepen our democracy and take action for the common good. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
posted by Rusl Bicycle @ 11/02/2016 02:32:00 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Please be respectful and constructive. If you want to vent or hate do it somewhere else. Violent, threatening and abusive comments will be removed. Please read other posts and discussion to avoid duplicate questions.
<< Home