TO:
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister and Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade
CC:
Rona Ambrose, Leader of the Conservative Party
Thomas Mulcair, Leader of the NDP
Rhéal Fortin, Leader of the Bloc Québécois
Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party
SUBJECT:
Hold real public consultations on the TPP
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Freeland,
With the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) text now revealed, you have promised to consult with Canadians, listen to us, and act on what you hear. I commend you on this promise, and take you up on it.
I have serious concerns about the TPP and believe it requires a full independent review to ensure it is in the best interest of Canadians like me. I also ask you to take steps to protect our international climate agreements from investor-state corporate lawsuits entrenched in the TPP.
Specifically, I request that you:
1. Ask the Parliamentary Budget Officer to conduct a comprehensive and independent analysis of the TPP text. Among other things, the analysis must assess the deal’s impact on human rights, health, employment, environment and democracy.
2. Hold public hearings in each province and territory across Canada as well as separate and meaningful consultation with Indigenous communities and First Nations. No agreement can be ratified without full consent.
3. Protect any progress made in Paris at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) from the investor-state dispute settlement provisions (ISDS) in the TPP. Furthermore, ISDS must be excised from the TPP.
4. Remove health care and pharmaceuticals from the TPP. Our public health policy should be dictated by evidence, not by trade agreements, and put people before profit.
[Your comments here]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
