On Nov. 11, Ken Collier of the Council of Canadians came out in a letter to the editor to oppose the Canada-European Union Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). Mr. Collier continues to fear monger and spread the repeated falsehoods of the Council of Canadians about this agreement.
The Canada-EU CETA will see an increase of $12 billion to Canada’s GDP and provide our businesses with access to a lucrative market of 500 million consumers, the single largest consumer market in the world. It will give our businesses a level playing field to compete in Europe.
Our government sought input from the provinces and territories throughout the negotiation process and that is why they have all come out in support of the agreement.
We will continue to work with them as the agreement is fully ratified and implemented.
Nothing in the agreement in any way diminishes Canada’s sovereignty over its fresh water supplies. We have heard this same alarmist claims from the anti-trade NDP and Council of Canadians for over 25 years. Nothing in any of Canada’s trade agreements would force a government to privatize, contract out or deregulate any water related service.
Municipal governments will still have the flexibility to give preferences to Canadian companies. In fact, projects below a threshold value will not be subject to the disciplines of the agreement at all, nor would education or health care.
Mr. Collier’s argument is the same noise that anti-trade ideologues used during the NAFTA debates.
Our government is focused on the priority of Canadians, creating jobs and economic opportunities; this agreement does just that.
Erin O’Toole, MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister of International Trade
Ottawa