Mulcair Says Canada NDP Won’t Be Bound by TPP Deal If Elected

[jpak]

Source: Bloomberg

Canada’s New Democratic Party is signaling it will back out of any Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact signed during the country’s election campaign, saying Prime Minister Stephen Harper is overstepping his powers and ignoring domestic outcry.

Leader Tom Mulcair, in a letter sent to Harper’s trade minister Friday, says the party won’t be “bound to any agreement” reached as TPP talks continue to Atlanta if elected on Oct. 19.

“You have no mandate to make concessions that could put thousands of well-paid Canadian jobs and the communities that depend on them in peril,” Mulcair wrote to International Trade Minister Ed Fast. “These changes will impact millions of Canadians every day. Your Conservative government has not consulted Canadians on any of them, and you have no mandate to trade them away.”

Canada’s protective system of tariffs and quotas for its dairy sector are a key stumbling block in reaching a 12-country TPP deal, in addition to auto sector barriers. Harper has said he will work to protect Canadian interests but his government has regularly said it simply cannot be left out of a Pacific trade deal.

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Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-02/mulcair-says-canada-ndp-won-t-be-bound-by-tpp-deal-if-elected-ifa4c6zz

[erronis]

1. Maybe the other independent leaders can follow suit - maybe even the next US president.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. K/R

There are still politicians still worth voting for. Even in the USA.

[Dont call me Shirley]

3. Politicians are coming to their senses! No tpp!

[stuffmatters]

4. DNC &DWSchultz delayed 1st debate as long as possible, perhaps calculating TPP'd be done by 10/11

Now it looks like it will put on the public table at the debates, and candidates will be asked to state their position and why. This will definitely be an educational moment for the US voters on this corporate takeover of our democracy, "NAFTA on steroids" which is the TPP (TPP's original abbreviation read as "SHAFTA" ...hope Bernie uses that.)

I hope Bernie makes as strong a stand in the lst debate against SHAFTA as this Canadian Dem candidate. The T Treaties are simply against everything the US Dem Party has traditionally championed. And what this Canadian leader describes re: abject defiance of overwhelming public opposition in Canada, is exactly what happened in the USA prior to the enabling 'fast track" vote. Apparently US Senators and Rep Dems were receiving overwhelming ratios of opposition from their constituents. Yet enough (with plently in the wings if needed) pro Wall Street Dems & Obama backed by a monolithic Rep Party finessed fast track through both chambers.


Even if "the moderators" at the 1st Dem debate avoid bringing up TPP et alios, I hope Bernie (and MO'M ) are relentless in including TPP facts and objections in responses to other questions. It will be a perfect forum for showcasing the antidemocratic, anti labor, pro privatization agenda of all these treaties.

[jalan48]

5. Hopefully the question gets asked-I don't have much faith in the corporate media.

[dae]

6. Louisiana just had it's only gubernatorial debate last night. I

was very upset about missing it till reading the first 20 minutes was asking all candidates about Kim Davis.
The debate was hosted by a tv station in NOLA. WHAT In Everlasting Hell makes Kim Davis important to our state? Not a effing thing!
Sorry for the rant!

[jalan48]

7. No problem, I know what you mean.

Last edited Sat Oct 3, 2015, 02:54 PM - Edit history (1)

It's more than frustrating watching the media focus on certain issues while ignoring other, bigger issues like climate change. It's like we are all playing pretend the news is real.

[Ken Burch]

8. Good. Maybe that will put the NDP over the top.

It's a tight three-way race and the "Dippers" need something to truly make them look distinct from the "Liberals".