[van-announce] Free Trade Agreement Canada Colombia

[Brad Olson]

Circulate Widely












Hello. On March 26, 2009 the government of 
Canada introduced legislation to implement the Canada Colombia Free trade 
agreement. As part of the several initiatives to respond to S Haper's tabling 
legislation for the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia in Parliament (that 
violated his own 21 day rule), there is a campaing to influence Ignatieff and 
the Liberals because as of this time, they support the agreement. The basic 
plan is to influence BC Liberals by having a coordinated national 
day in which people phone in Liberals MPs. We 
want people to call their MP (in the five BC Liberal ridings) with a message 
about the Canada-Colombia FTA.  
 

In BC, Barbara Wood from Co-Development Canada is 
coordinating the phone in. Let me know if you are willing to participate and I 
will forward the information to Barbara who would provide details next week. 
Specifically we would be hoping for people from those ridings including: Joyce 
Murray – Vancouver Quadra, Hedy Fry – Vancouver Centre, Ujjal Dosanjh – 
Vancouver South, Sukh Dhaliwal – Newton North Delta, and Keith Martin – 
Esquimalt Juan de Fuca.  
 
There is a workshop on 
Colombia that is bringing excellent speakers (academics, indigenous and other 
social movements leaders) and that will be providing a historical and socio 
political analysis of the conflict in Colombia and the various economic and 
political interest at stake and a wide range of perspectives and information on 
the human rights situation in the country and social movements. The workshop is 
sponsored by SFU and UBC Latin American Studies Program and SFU Latin American 
Studies Student Union. You can find the information in the following link: http://www.sfu.ca/las/news/ColombiaTheConflictsandBeyond.html
 
I am also incluiding 
here a sample letter to encourage you to write to your member of Parliament and 
express your opposition to the Free Trade. 
 
PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR Members of 
Parliament:
*   Find it here : http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/index.asp?Language=E

With a copy to the following party leaders:
*    
Stephen Harper, HarpeS at parl.gc.ca, Prime Minister of 
Canada, Leader of the Conservative Party
*    Michael Ignatieff, 
ignatm at parl.gc.ca, Leader of the 
Liberal Party of Canada 
*    Jack Layton, laytoj at parl.gc.ca, Leader of the New Democratic Party, NPD
*    Gilles 
Duceppe, DucepG at parl.gc.ca, Leader of the Bloc 
Québécois

And a copy to:
*    CDHAL: info at cdhal.org

SAMPLE LETTER: (cut, paste, 
and do a few minor edits!)

Member of Parliament,
 
Allow me to 
call to your attention something that has been of great concern to us, and also 
to present some important information regarding this matter.

As you are 
aware, the Conservative government presented the Canada-Colombia Free Trade 
Agreement to Parliament on March 26, 2009 for ratification, though many 
Colombian and Canadian organizations have been opposing the deal for some time. 
The New Democratic Party (NDP), the Bloc Quebecois, and several Liberal Members 
of Parliament oppose this deal as well. In response, the Harper government has 
claimed that this deal would help both the Canadian and Colombian economies as 
well as require the Colombian government to improve the human rights situation 
in Colombia.

We would like to express our disagreement with the arguments 
put forward by the Harper government, in the light of the following 
information:
 
Numerous studies have shown that signing the 
Canada-Colombian FTA would have dramatic consequences on work conditions in 
Colombia and Canada, and jeopardize fundamental collective rights recognized by 
Canadian democracy, without demonstrating any economic benefit. Also, the 
FTA—which amply favours Canadian mining companies, who have not always followed 
accepted social and environmental regulations—would result in a worsened balance 
of environmental and human concerns.
 
To sign this deal would not 
only make Canada complicit in the innumerable crimes committed by the Colombian 
government, which crimes have been denounced by the United Nations and the 
Interamerican Court of Human Right; it would also fail to recognize the work 
that has been done to defend human rights, to which an important part of the 
Canadian community has committed itself.
 
How is it possible to 
discuss improving the human rights situation in Colombia when the report 
published by Amnesty International on October 28th, 2008 indicates that 1400 
civilians were murdered in 2007, and 1300 murdered in 2006? During the first 
part of 2008, close to 270,000 people were forcibly displaced, which is equal to 
a 40% increase compared to the same period in 2007. There are serious 
indications that discredit the process of paramilitary demobilization and lead 
to two conclusions: paramilitary forces continue to threaten and assassinate 
innocent people and almost all of their crimes remain unpunished. 

At the 
end of 2008, the scandal of extrajudicial executions took place (or “false 
positives”): the army systematically murdered civilians for the purpose of 
inflating the numbers of the victories gained in anti-guerrilla warfare, a 
scandal that has lead to the Alvaro Uribe Vélez government’s legitimacy to be 
seriously questioned. During the last two presidential terms, at least 1200 
defenceless civilians have been assassinated, which deaths have then been 
reported as “killed in action.” 

And these are only a few of the 
innumerable examples. 

It is important to note that the Congress of the 
United States rejected the ratification of a FTA similar to the one presented to 
the Parliament of Canada, given the deplorable situation of the government of 
Colombia in the matter of human rights violations. 

We believe that in 
the course of the last few years, Canada has been losing its international 
reputation and its tradition as a leader in the defense of human rights. For 
this reason, it is vitally important for Canada to follow the example of the 
government of the United States and reject the ratification of the 
Canada-Colombia FTA. 

Accordingly, we ask that you give the greatest 
attention to the situation that prevails at the moment in Colombia and to 
actively denounce the Free Trade Agreement in Parliament, and oppose its 
ratification. 

We trust that you will represent your electorate and the 
consensus of Canadians with dignity, opposing the ratification of the FTA, which 
will likely occur in the following weeks. We would appreciate any correspondence 
from you informing us about your position and any actions that you will 
undertake after receiving this request.

Cordially yours, 



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