CPTnet
2 June 2009
CANADA: Continued Pressure on Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement essential


Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will speak to the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade in Ottawa on 10 June in an effort to shore up support for Bill C-23, implementation legislation for the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

Debate on Bill C-23 stalled in the House of Commons this week after the opposition Liberals indicated a shift in their party’s position.  Following a spirited discussion of the Bill on Monday, 25 May, the government pulled the legislation from the order paper until further notice.  Debates scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday did not take place.

On Monday, Liberal trade critic Scott Brison called on the Harper government to conduct a formal independent Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) before allowing the enabling legislation to proceed.  (Updates on the status of C-23, plus the text of the legislation and major speeches in Parliament on it, can be found at http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/LEGISINFO/index.asp?Language=E&Session=22&query=5769&List=toc)

Only last month, Brison had said that his party would not oppose the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement because “it’s easier to engage a country on human rights issues when you’re engaged on economic issues.”  The New Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecoise have opposed the agreement from the beginning.

The struggle against the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement is far from over, however.  While members of the Colombia Trade Reference Group of the Americas Policy Group—to which CPT belongs—have credited civil society’s opposition to the Bill for having an impact on the Liberal position, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff’s office continues to circulate a letter stating that “we support the principle of free trade with Colombia and will vote to send this legislation to committee for an in depth analysis.”  

The letter claims that the International Crisis Group (ICG) acknowledges that the human rights situation has improved under the current Colombian government.  In fact, ICG’s most recent report on Colombia, released 25 May 2009, states that “serious abuses, including of international humanitarian law, persist and in some instances are even increasing.”  (For the full report, see http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=6112&l=1)

The Colombia Team’s ongoing documentation of abuses in the Magdalena Medio and other regions supports the International Crisis Group’s findings.  (For the team’s most recent human rights report, see http://www.cpt.org/work/colombia/human_rights/2008)

CPT urges members and supporters to keep up the pressure on Liberal and other MPs to insist on a Human Rights Impact Assessment prior to any vote on Bill C-23.  Members and supporters are encouraged to contact Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and other MPs by letter, e-mail, phone, and in person to draw attention to the ongoing violations of human rights that the CPT Colombia Team has documented, and their support for putting the human rights of Colombians before Canadian trade and investment interests.  (For MP contact information: http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?T...)