Give your MLA the message – stay out of CETA!

Please call the Premier and your MLA and tell them to keep Manitoba out of C.E.T.A.

You can choose to read the main points below, to comment yourself on those points, to read one of the comments that correlate to the points or to read them all. The important thing is to call MLAs. Make sure their voice mail is FULL Monday morning!

You may refer them to canadianswinnipeg.org or canadians.org/CETA for more information.

Hi my name is _______. I am calling to tell you that C.E.T.A. (the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada) would be a bad deal for Manitobans. It’s an unfair trade deal, made behind closed doors, that will be devastating to communities throughout Manitoba and jeopardize our standard of living for generations to come.



Main points

If C.E.T.A. is signed it will:


1. threaten our democracy by putting corporate rights first

   
2. open public services to bids by huge multinationals and lead to privatization – Canada’s drinking water and wastewater services are particularly at risk 

   
3. threaten local job creation and “buy-local” policies
   
4. 
cause Canadian prescription drug costs to skyrocket by at least $2.8 billion each year, 79.8 million in MB alone
   
5. allow big corporations to challenge environmental regulations 



Quick comments that correlate to the points above.

1. 

A corporation’s right to do business and make profit will come before our rights as people. For instance, accessible, affordable, clean drinking water for people will be secondary to the corporation’s right to own and sell that water.

   
2. Because water services will be open to bidding by corporations, there will be enormous pressure to turn water into a commodity instead of a human right, and to contract with companies like Veolia to sell our water to us.

   
3. A venture like Diversity Foods at University of Winnipeg would not be possible under CETA. Diversity provides top quality meals from locally sourced fresh food, supporting local farmers; they have a successful program of hiring and training new Canadians and aboriginals. But if the contract for university food services comes up once CETA is signed, the university would have to open it to bidding from all EU and Canadian corporations and choose the lowest bidder – even if that meant pre-packaged microwave meals shipped across the ocean.

   
4. Pharmaceutical companies are supposed to spend at least 10% of yearly revenue on research, but they still only spend 6%. Extending their patents isn’t going to pay for research and development costs – it’s paying for advertising, lobbying of government and bloated executive salaries.

   
5. If a corporation thinks that they were not able to bid on a contract because of provincial or even municipal government policies for requirements (such as green energy) that the corporation couldn’t meet, the corporation can take the government through a dispute settlement process. They’ll get their money, and elected government will lose its ability to make policies stick.

Find your MLA

Honourable Greg Selinger • Premier
Phone: 945-3714 Fax: 949-1484
Constituency: 237-9247 premier@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Steve Ashton • Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation
Phone: 945-3723 Fax: 945-7610 minmit@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Dave Chomia • Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines
Phone: 945-5356 Fax: 948-2692 miniem@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Gord Mackintosh • Minister of Conservation and Water Stewardship
Phone: 945-3370 Fax: 948-3586 Constituency:582-1550 minconws@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Eric Robinson • Deputy Premier
• Minister of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs
Phone: 945-3719 Fax: 945-8374 minna@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Ron Lemieux • Minister of Local Government
Phone: 945-3788 Fax: 945-1383 minlg@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Stan Struthers • Minister of Finance
Phone: 945-3952 Fax: 945-6057 minfin@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Nancy Allan  • Minister of Education
Phone: 945-3720 Fax: 945-1291 minedu@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Jim Rondeau • Minister of Healthy Living, Seniors and Consumer Affairs
Phone: 945-1373 Fax: 948-2703 minhliv@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Peter Bjornson • Minister of Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade
Phone: 945-0067 Fax: 945-4882 minett@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Christine Melnick • Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism
Phone: 945-1133 Fax: 948-2684 minimm@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Theresa Oswald • Minister of Health
Phone: 945-3731 Fax: 945-0441 minhlt@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Kerri Irvin-Ross • Minister of Housing and Community Development
Phone: 945-6190 Fax: 945-1491 minhcd@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Andrew Swan • Minister of Justice and Attorney General
Phone:945-3728 Fax: 945-2517 minjus@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Jennifer Howard • Minister of Family Services and Labour
• Government House Leader
Phone: 945-4173 Fax: 945-5149 minfsl@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Flor Marcelino • Minister of Culture, Heritage and Tourism
Phone: 945-3729 Fax: 945-5223 mincht@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Erin Selby • Minister of Advanced Education and Literacy
Phone: 945-0825 Fax: 948-2216 minaed@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Kevin Chief • Minister of Children and Youth Opportunities
Phone: 945-1133 Fax: 948-2519 mincyo@leg.gov.mb.ca

Honourable Ron Kostyshyn • Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives
Phone: 945-3722 Fax: 945-347