"From water, transit and energy to construction, environmental, architecture and catering, there are thousands of opportunities for these firms to undercut the smaller Canadian competition. Buy-local policies will be banned under CETA. The deal will also compromise ethical or sustainable purchasing strategies by municipalities, school boards, hospitals or Crown corporations. Additional investment commitments on services, in combination with these procurement rules, will make it difficult to ensure services such as drinking water and wastewater treatment remain in public hands."
These were among the findings of a legal opinion of CETA for the Centre for Civic Governance, which the Council of Canadians has been sharing with councillors and school trustees in Canada. The findings were enough to convince the Union of British Columbian Municipalities to pass a resolution last year asking the provincial government to seek a permanent exclusion for municipalities in CETA. A sustainability impact assessment of the proposed agreement, done by a private firm for the European Commission, has backed up much of what we have been talking about."
Read more in the Chronicle Herald
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