N.L. thanked for CETA stance
A group made up of members from all the over the word who describes their goal as holding corporations responsible for their actions is thanking Newfoundland on its website for the provincial government’s stance on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Sumofus.org has staff all over the world and is 85 per cent member funded.
Emma Pullman, who works for the group out of British Columbia, says writing a kind of thank you letter to another province isn’t the type of thing a campaigning group such as sumofus.org normally does, but that’s exactly what it decided to do in the case of Newfoundland.
On the group’s website, it says, “Thanks, Newfoundland, for standing up to Harper’s trade agenda!”
When you click on the link, a few short paragraphs start off by referring to Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a kind of school bully.
“That’s why we want to say thanks to Newfoundland and Labrador for standing their ground and protecting the Newfoundlanders — and the rest of us — from this terrible deal,” it reads, referring to CETA. “If we show the people of Newfoundland that we really stand with them, it’ll help make sure the government doesn’t bow to Harper’s pressure.”
In January, the provincial government announced it was suspending participation in ongoing trade negotiations in response to the federal government’s stance on CETA.
Premier Paul Davis argued that Harper reneged on a $400million deal for a fisheries innovation fund that was to be set up in exchange for Newfoundland and Labrador dropping minimum processing requirements (MPRs) on seafood bound for Europe as part of the CETA deal.
Whether Davis’s stance on CETA with the federal government was good, bad or inconsequential has been a topic knocking around kitchens, classrooms, newsrooms and pubs since, but as far as Pullman and sumofus.org are concerned, there’s no question.
“Trade deals like the CETA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (are) good for a few people and they’re not good for a lot more people than they’re good for,” she says.
As part of the thank you letter written to the province, the group asks people to sign it online as a way of showing the federal government they are against CETA.
“It just seemed to have this attraction. We got in just a couple of days over 30,000 signatures on the petition,” Pullman says. “I really hope that our petition can help spark further conversations and debate about it.”
“Trade deals like the CETA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (are) good for a few people and they’re not good for a lot more people than they’re good for.”
Emma Pullman