ACTION ALERT: FTA anniversary is nothing to celebrate

October 2, 2007

This October 3 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) being initialed, followed by the final text being completed on December 9, and Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney and US president Ronald Reagan signing the agreement on January 2, 1988.

As recently reported in the Ottawa Citizen, "On the evening of Oct. 4 at Le Windsor in Montreal, the Quebec branch of the Fraser Institute is hosting a gala event marking the 20th anniversary of the free trade agreement between Canada and the United States (featuring) former prime minister Brian Mulroney."

CTV.ca has also reported this week that, "Twenty years after Canada and the United States negotiated the controversial Free Trade Agreement, most North Americans believe the deal fueled economic growth, according to a new poll."

But let's look at the facts. As Maude Barlow wrote in her January 2005 publication 'The Canada We Want',

1. In the first decade of free trade, exports to the United States increased by 250 percent, and the US now receives 87 percent of all Canada's exports. As Canada has become more dependent on US markets, trade within Canada and with the rest of the world has declined. This dependence has made Canada more vulnerable to US trade disputes such as the contentious softwood lumber issue. Disputes of this kind, contrary to promises made during the negotiations, have not abated under the free trade regime.

2. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) found that between 1988 and 2002, 39 Business Council on National Issues/Canadian Council of Chief Executives member corporations increased their revenues by 105 percent, while at the same time decreasing their workforces by almost 15 percent. So much for their promises of 'jobs, jobs, jobs'.

3. Between 1985 and 2002, there were over 10,000 takeovers of Canadian firms, including almost 6,500 by American corporations. As a result, between 1988 and 2000, manufacturing productivity in Canada has dropped 83 percent of the US level to 65 percent.

4. Since 1989, the year Parliament unanimously voted to end child poverty by the end of the century, child poverty in Canada has actually risen to the shameful figure of 15.6 percent in 2001. The number of people receiving emergency groceries from a food bank doubled between 1989 and 2000 to over 760,000 people.

5. Between 1989 and 2002, half as many full-time jobs were created in Canada as during the previous thirteen years. Significantly, the quality of jobs has also been declining. Between 1997 and 2002, the real median hourly wages of 'blue collar' workers fell by as much as 11 percent in some categories. More and more Canadians have become 'precarious workers' - part-time or self-employed, with no security, no pensions or benefits.

TAKE ACTION
Chapter activists are encouraged to write letters to the editor of your local newspaper when pro-free trade articles celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Free Trade Agreement are published. You may use the facts noted above or use the resources noted below. You may also want to quote Maude Barlow who has said, "There’s a deep and abiding resistance to this agenda in our country. Twenty years hasn’t changed our values."

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Activists writing letters may also want to look at these resources for additional argumentation:

• Revisiting NAFTA: Still not working for North America's workers
• Free Trade’s Big Lie: NAFTA has failed to create quality jobs or close the income gap
• NAFTA Takes the Cake: There’s nothing to celebrate about the 10th anniversary of NAFTA

Brent Patterson, Director of Organizing and Campaigns, The Council of Canadians