Canada Europe FTA

[farmers_son]

The thread on Paraguay and comments re trade with Europe prompted me to check out what our government is doing to improve beef trade with Europe. This is what I found...

See the Canada European Free Trade Association:
http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/efta-agr-acc.aspx?lang=en

On January 28, 2009, the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, tabled in the House of Commons legislation to implement the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Canada and the States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and associated Bilateral Agreements on Agriculture with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland (News Release – January 28, 2009).

Should the necessary legislation to implement the Agreement be passed by the Parliament and the Treaty ratified before end of April, 2009, the Agreement could come into force on July 1, 2009.

In particular see Annex G Agricultural Products.

http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/assets/pdfs/EFTA-AnnexG-en.pdf

I cannot see anywhere in the list where there is improved access for our beef into Europe, with or without hormones. Milk however is on the list.

To me that is a great concern. At first blush it looks as if our government has negotiated yet another FTA that does not improve our market access for western Canada beef.

I feel quite betrayed that this could happen. Market access for our beef in key. Our government continues to ignore beef when negotiating FTA with important potential beef export markets. Without that market access our beef will not move into export markets like Europe.

[Kathy]

Stockwell Day was also buddying up with the Uranium mining companies (Cameco) and the Atomic Energy guys to sell more uranium and reactors to India. India is not part of the non-proliferation agreement. And because Canada sold them CANDU technology many years ago, they produced a nuclear bomb and have tested one.

Canada voted to continue to allow India access to our uranium and reactors,

and they are now pushing to open new uranium mines in Nunavit (so they can completely contaminate the northern environment and give the caribous CWD.

Our problem remains that we think Government is going to save us. They are out to completely "globalize" us; giving away all our resources. When you globalize the economy, and your average income is higher than the majority of the world's economies - there is only one direction for OUR income to go - down.