Tories launched PR push to ‘counter negative rhetoric’
OTTAWA — Faced with a mounting backlash from municipalities about a pending Canada-EU free-trade deal, more than a dozen federal ministers fanned out across the country to 18 events in late April to “generate widespread support” for the negotiations and “counter negative rhetoric,” the government’s own documents show.
The internal government documents, obtained by Postmedia News under access to information, show the Conservative government was worried specifically about a growing list of communities — which now includes major cities like Toronto, Hamilton and Victoria — seeking exemptions from the proposed trade pact due to concerns over a loss of autonomy in local decision-making.
The Conservative government maintains the proposed free trade pact would create tens of thousands of Canadian jobs and billions of dollars in new economic growth by boosting exports, ultimately increasing two-way trade by 20 per cent.
The Harper government and the European Union hope to complete negotiations this year on the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), although key sticking points continue to delay the process. The negotiations have sparked growing concerns from dozens of communities across Canada that are worried about jobs, local autonomy and municipal procurement.
Mayors in Atlantic Canada complained in mid-April they have been shut out of talks and demanded they be included in the discussions.
Other cities have voted not to seek an exemption from CETA, while the Federation of Canadian Municipalities believes a Canada-EU trade deal could generate new jobs from increased exports and lead to cheaper construction costs on major projects.
With that as a backdrop, the federal government crafted a plan to go on the offensive on CETA. Conservative ministers, parliamentary secretaries, backbenchers and a senator were dispersed to 18 different events across all provinces on April 27 to “highlight benefits of deeper Canada-EU trade.”
Internal documents from Foreign Affairs and International Trade identify the desired messaging from each event and propose almost identical speaking notes for each of the 18 Tory parliamentarians.
The objective of the events, according to the documents, was to “generate widespread
“THE BENEFITS (OF CETA) WOULD BE WIDESPREAD.” ED FAST
support for the ongoing Canada-EU trade negotiations” by having parliamentarians visit local companies likely to benefit from CETA, and for the Tory caucus members to highlight possible benefits to workers and families in their communities.
The goal, however, was also to “counter negative rhetoric around the Canada-EU trade negotiations by creating more real awareness of the issues and benefits at stake.”
Government officials insist the cost for all 18 events was only $2,520 — including printing of brochures and audio requirements — as most of the announcements were hosted by businesses in or around MPs’ home ridings and didn’t require much travel.
The documents list objec- tives for media coverage in great detail, including examples of the federal government’s preferred headlines, sound bites and photos.
Answers prepared for MPs on a number of Canada-EU “hot issues” attempted to deflect criticism of the potential deal. Tory MPs were to determine whether the community in which they were holding an event had held debates on seeking an exemption from CETA.
They were encouraged to say a new free trade deal wouldn’t prevent municipalities from addressing local needs or from using existing selection criteria such as quality, price and experience in competitive procurement bids.
“When foreign suppliers win bids, they usually source and hire locally,” says one talking point.
“From the beginning, municipalities have been consulted regularly, and continue to be involved with our negotiating team,” adds another talking point.
Parliamentarians have been warned by some groups that signing the free-trade agreement could cost the country’s health system an extra $2.8 billion annually in pharmaceutical bills and delay access to cheaper generic drugs, due to CETA provisions on intellectual property.
The talking points provided to MPs didn’t refute arguments that drug costs would rise, but the politicians were encouraged to say the government “has always sought to strike a balance between promoting innovation and job creation and ensuring that Canadians continue to have access to the affordable drugs they need.”