Growing Majority of Canadians Agree with Obama: Renegotiate NAFTA
September 26, 2008
Growing Majority of Canadians Agree with Obama: Renegotiate NAFTA
Ottawa - The Council of Canadians has found that 58% of Canadians agree with U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama that NAFTA should be renegotiated to include enforceable labour and environmental standards, in a poll commissioned from Environics. The finding follows those of earlier polls and demonstrates a steady growth in Canadians’ support for renegotiating NAFTA - from 45% in March to 52% in July (Angus Reid).
“Whichever parties win the U.S. and Canadian elections, the concerns of Canadians over the impact of NAFTA on jobs and the environment aren’t going away,” says John Urquhart, Executive Director of the Council of Canadians.
“Canadians need to think very carefully before October 14 about who will best represent their concerns on the environment and jobs, should Barack Obama become U.S. president and new NAFTA talks begin in 2009,” he added. “And, even more urgently, Canadians need to think about who should represent our interests in talks with the European Union that are scheduled to begin a mere three days after the election, on October 17.”
“The fact that Stephen Harper hasn’t uttered a single word about this new proposed Canada-EU trade deal before or during this election, and which promises to be more sweeping than NAFTA, should raise serious doubts in Canadians’ minds about his appropriateness to lead us in new international trade talks,” adds Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “He sees nothing wrong with NAFTA, which most Canadians want renegotiated. And NAFTA is exactly the wrong model on which an EU-Canada trade deal should be negotiated. It will only worsen the impact on jobs, the environment and public services, especially health care.”
The Council has been highly critical of the Harper government’s lack of transparency in NAFTA-plus negotiations over the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) the past two years, its exclusive reliance on the advice of private corporations and business lobbyists through the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), as well as its open rejection of the need to renegotiate NAFTA.
The Question posed in the Environics poll was:
“Earlier this year, U.S. Senator Barack Obama promised, if elected president of the United States on November 4, that he would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to include enforceable labour and environmental standards. Do you agree or disagree that NAFTA should be renegotiated to include enforceable labour and environmental standards?”
The poll, which surveyed 1,004 Canadians between September 18 and 25, is accurate within 3.10 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
For further information contact:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer: Tel.: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249, dpenner@canadians.org
--
The Council of Canadians
700-170 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5.
Tel: (613) 233-2773; Toll-free: 1-800-387-7177
Fax: (613) 233-6776
inquiries@canadians.org
www.canadians.org
Growing Majority of Canadians Agree with Obama: Renegotiate NAFTA
Ottawa - The Council of Canadians has found that 58% of Canadians agree with U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama that NAFTA should be renegotiated to include enforceable labour and environmental standards, in a poll commissioned from Environics. The finding follows those of earlier polls and demonstrates a steady growth in Canadians’ support for renegotiating NAFTA - from 45% in March to 52% in July (Angus Reid).
“Whichever parties win the U.S. and Canadian elections, the concerns of Canadians over the impact of NAFTA on jobs and the environment aren’t going away,” says John Urquhart, Executive Director of the Council of Canadians.
“Canadians need to think very carefully before October 14 about who will best represent their concerns on the environment and jobs, should Barack Obama become U.S. president and new NAFTA talks begin in 2009,” he added. “And, even more urgently, Canadians need to think about who should represent our interests in talks with the European Union that are scheduled to begin a mere three days after the election, on October 17.”
“The fact that Stephen Harper hasn’t uttered a single word about this new proposed Canada-EU trade deal before or during this election, and which promises to be more sweeping than NAFTA, should raise serious doubts in Canadians’ minds about his appropriateness to lead us in new international trade talks,” adds Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “He sees nothing wrong with NAFTA, which most Canadians want renegotiated. And NAFTA is exactly the wrong model on which an EU-Canada trade deal should be negotiated. It will only worsen the impact on jobs, the environment and public services, especially health care.”
The Council has been highly critical of the Harper government’s lack of transparency in NAFTA-plus negotiations over the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) the past two years, its exclusive reliance on the advice of private corporations and business lobbyists through the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), as well as its open rejection of the need to renegotiate NAFTA.
The Question posed in the Environics poll was:
“Earlier this year, U.S. Senator Barack Obama promised, if elected president of the United States on November 4, that he would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to include enforceable labour and environmental standards. Do you agree or disagree that NAFTA should be renegotiated to include enforceable labour and environmental standards?”
The poll, which surveyed 1,004 Canadians between September 18 and 25, is accurate within 3.10 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
For further information contact:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer: Tel.: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249, dpenner@canadians.org
--
The Council of Canadians
700-170 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5.
Tel: (613) 233-2773; Toll-free: 1-800-387-7177
Fax: (613) 233-6776
inquiries@canadians.org
www.canadians.org