New Brunswickers rally against free trade with Colombia

Moncton – New Brunswick union leaders and social justice activists gathered in front of Member of Parliament Brian Murphy’s office yesterday in Moncton to urge him to vote against Bill C-23 – the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.

On March 26, 2009, the Federal Conservative Government tabled Bill C-23 in the House of Commons. The free trade agreement with Colombia was withdrawn while being debated during second reading in Parliament on May 27, 2009. The Canadian-Colombian Free Trade Agreement is expected to make a come back.

“If adopted by Parliament, this Bill will essentially create a free trade zone between Canada and Colombia and will provide for the liberalization of various economic activities: Trade in goods, trade in services, foreign investments and government procurements,” stated Danny Légère, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) New Brunswick.

Légère pointed out that more labour leaders are killed in Colombia every year than in the rest of the world combined. “There have been 2,709 trade unionists killed in Colombia since 1986, which represents one every three days…. These murders rarely result in trial or convictions,” stated Légère.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reported in November 2008 that Colombia’s security forces are engaged in “widespread and systematic killings of civilians.” Between July 2002 and June 2007, 955 executions were linked to state security forces.

The Fredericton Peace Coalition distributed flyers at the rally containing information about the Cerrejón mine, the world’s largest open-pit coal mine located in North Eastern Colombia. Cerrejón’s coal is used by NB Power to generate electricity at their Belledune Plant. The Cerrejón mine has violently displaced Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, and adversely affected their health and environment.

In 2001, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) drew criticism for having assisted the Colombian government in re-writing its mining code. The new code relaxed environmental regulations on mining operations, extended the length of concessions issued to foreign companies and reduced royalty rates that companies were required to pay to the Colombian government on extracted resources. Under the new code, the royalty rates on coal were reduced from 10-15 percent to 0.4 percent. Colombia is home to Canadian mining companies that are expected to benefit from the new mining code and the proposed free trade agreement if implemented.

“We strongly believe that Canada should not enter into a free trade deal with Colombia. As citizens, it is our duty to pressure our politicians to vote against this free trade agreement. Bill C-23 must be defeated in Parliament. Both the Bloc and the NDP said they would vote against it, we ask that all Liberal MP’s, including Brian Murphy, do the same,” stated Serge Landry, CUPE’s Global Justice Committee Chair.

Murphy was not available for comment but an assistant from Murphy’s office read a prepared statement at the end of the rally: “In principle, we support free trade with Colombia but we have serious concerns about human rights in Colombia. That is why we have sent Bob Rae and Scott Brison to Colombia to ask tough questions. We will be examining human rights further in committee to determine if this FTA represents the values of Canadians and is in the best interest of Canada.”

Scott Brison, the Liberal’s Trade Critic, has previously rejected calls to oppose the free trade agreement. Other Liberal MPs have expressed the desire for a human rights impact assessment of the free trade agreement before taking a position.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe told members of the House of Commons International Trade Committee last June that his administration had wiped out paramilitary forces and non-governmental organizations were now able to move freely within Colombia.

This past week, two more trade unionists, Gustavo Gómez and Mauricio Antonio Monsalve Vásquez, were assassinated in Colombia, bringing the total of trade unionists assassinated in Colombia this year to 27.

Tracy Glynn is on the board of the NB Media Co-op.