The federal government, provinces and territories are
currently negotiating a “Comprehensive Economic and Trade
Agreement” (CETA) with the European Union that could significantly
undermine municipal autonomy and democracy. But municipalities themselves
are not at the table. Not surprisingly, they are increasingly uneasy about, and
in some cases opposed to CETA.
For more information about the Canada-EU trade
negotiations, including a legal opinion by Steven Shrybman on the impact of CETA
on cities, visit: www.canadians.org/CETA
Both the City of Burnaby and the District of Logan Lake have
propos ed resolutions on CETA to this year’s meeting of the Union of
BC Municipalities, which takes place September 27 – October 1.
A
resolutions committee has recommended that the UBCM endorse a consolidated
version, which would ask the UBCM to request:
- a briefing from the Province of BC on the scope and content
of trade negotiations with the European Union;
- the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to provide
sector-by-sector analysis of the potential impacts on municipal functions and
powers of the procurement regime that the European Union is seeking;
- the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to urge the
government of Canada not to provide the European Union with access to sub
national government procurement; and
- that the provincial government negotiate a clear, permanent
exemption for local governments from CETA.
A few weeks ago, the Council of Canadians, Canadian Union of
Public Employees and B.C. Federation of Labour jointly wrote to all
B.C. municipalities encouraging them to endorse this resolution, with an
emphasis on the need to keep all municipalities out of the CETA.
Act Today! Please take some time this week and
next week to email and call your city
councilors and encourage them to support the Logan
Lake resolution.
You can get them a copy of Steven Shrybman’s legal opinion about
the impact of CETA on cities if they need more information at www.civicgovernance.ca/files/uploads/FINAL-Shrybman_CETA_report.pdf
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