Around and around we go
Chair of committee that recommended sticking to the new transit system with tweaks now says that’s not quite right
The united voice of two advisory committees at the public services committee meeting to keep the new transit system was perhaps misleading, says the chair of the transit advisory committee.
A unanimous vote from the Social Development Advisory Board and the transit advisory committee did not have the support of chair Tracy Palmer. When Palmer spoke about the motion to public services, he did say he did not support it.
“I sure wanted to. I’ve been stewing over it ever since that I didn’t,” said Palmer.
Not all the committee members were present for the vote on the motion at the meeting on Sept. 20, a couple days after council voted 6-3 in favour of returning to the old transit system, said Palmer.
“Some of them excused themselves a little bit early and had to go back to work. I don’t recall the specifics and I don’t have the minutes yet,” said Palmer.
As the chair, Palmer was trying to be neutral and he did not personally vote on the motion. As CORE’s representative on the committee, he says he knew CORE was against the motion.
“Our executive director Rita Bessant has made it very clear that we do not, nor has CORE ever, supported changes to the transit system,” said Palmer, who believes CORE’s clients would like to return to the old system.
“I am 100 per cent opposed to the current changes in transit. I base that on complaints from individuals and staff members who cannot get to work on time,” Bessant told the News on Wednesday.
All three ministers acknowledged that difficult issues lay ahead for the fourth round. Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo took a shot at the U.S., which has not tabled written proposals on the most contentious issues.
“As the negotiations move forward, it is important we have the will to table positions that encourage constructive discussions,” he said.
Sources close to the talks, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said the U.S. is demanding an eight-fold increase in Mexico’s minimum wage, which is currently less than $1 per hour. The Mexican delegation flatly rejected that idea.
Guajardo also appeared to bristle at the American and Canadian focus on labour standards, saying Mexico won’t accept any proposal that will “restrict any possibilities to create work or trade.”
Freeland held firm on her push for enforceable, progressive labour standards, drawing a link between it and lost Canadian jobs.
Freeland said the proposal was meant to address “the very legitimate concerns of Canadian workers that trade agreements can sometimes expose Canadian workers to competition with workers who function in an environment of lower labour standards.”
U.S. Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer said “some very difficult and contentious issues” lie ahead, including the inevitable showdown on Canadian dairy practices, which Trump has loudly blamed for lost jobs on Midwestern farms. The U.S. would continue to push for “reciprocal market access for American farmers, ranchers and businesses.” Dan Ujczo, an Ohio-based international trade lawyer who represents companies in both U.S. and Canada, detected a decidedly pessimistic mood among the stakeholders and negotiators who attended a reception in Ottawa on Tuesday night.
“The universal view is that this is going down in stunning glory,” Ujczo said in an interview.
“In that room of 250 people, I didn’t hear one positive comment about what was happening in these negotiations.”
In addition to failing to provide detail on its position on some of the most contentious issues, Ujczo said the U.S. has signalled it intends to take a hard line on matters like government procurement and dispute resolution.
“Everything the U.S. is adding are those types of measures that will restrict trade,” he said, adding that stakeholders are already preparing for the demise of NAFTA, with some who made investment decisions based on the pact even getting ready to launch litigation against the U.S.
The talks ended a day after the U.S. Department of Commerce proposed a hefty 219 per cent countervailing duty on jets manufactured by Montreal’s Bombardier, further straining the Canada-U.S. trading relationship.
Freeland said she discussed the Boeing-Bombardier dispute in her meeting with Lighthizer, but she considers the matter to be separate from the NAFTA talks, in part due to the fact the action was not taken by Lighthizer’s department. She said she would be talking soon with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.