Trade Justice Network

Image depicting an anti-CETA protest in Europe

Open Letter: French politicians should not ratify CETA

Ottawa – Monday, July 15, 2019 – As France begins its ratification process of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union, we, civil society organizations and individuals from across Canada and Quebec, echo our French counterparts’ call on members of the National Assembly and Senate to vote against this […]

Save Roşia Montană: The fight against ISDS in Romania

A new video released Monday, June 24 profiles one community’s fight against the effects of investor state dispute settlement (ISDS). For 20 years, residents of beautiful Romanian town Roşia Montană have fought plans to build a toxic gold mine, which would have destroyed their home and the environment. They stopped the project in court, where […]

Why does Canada continue trade talks with extremist Bolsonaro government?

Image credit: Government of Canada Canada continues to engage in negotiations with the right-wing extremist Bolsonaro government of Brazil, as part of the Canada-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement talks. The Bolsonaro government is explicitly anti-feminist, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-black, anti-Indigenous, anti-worker and anti-environment — the very opposite of the values the Trudeau government claims to hold. Canadian labour, […]

CUSMA: Not the progressive deal Canadians were promised

As the Canadian government takes steps towards ratifying the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), known widely as the new NAFTA or NAFTA 2.0, many concerns remain for all people in Canada. At the outset of the rollercoaster negotiations beginning in August 2017, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland outlined the “progressive trade” principles that her government committed […]

More than 300 Civil Society Groups Call on Governments to Reject Digital Trade Talks in the World Trade Organization (WTO)

The Trade Justice Network joined over 300 civil society organizations – including global union federations, development advocates, consumer organizations, and environmental groups – from more than 90 countries in delivering a letter to WTO members. As some countries have launched preliminary talks on e-commerce trade, the civil society groups warn governments of serious dangers and urge them to […]

New NAFTA still needs overhaul

OTTAWA (Oct. 3, 2018) — Today, the Trade Justice Network, along with Common Frontiers and the Council of Canadians, released the following joint statement: After weeks of intense negotiations behind closed doors, a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has emerged. Like the original NAFTA, the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, falls short when […]

Canada’s move to implement CPTPP signals the abandoning of “progressive trade”

OTTAWA (Sept. 21, 2018) – The Liberal government is forcing the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) through the House of Commons with indecent haste, allowing for no further public input, after the deal has been widely denounced by Canadians. After it passed second reading in the House of Commons Tuesday, the CPTPP has sparked […]

Submission on Canada-Mercosur and Canada-Pacific Alliance FTAs

In response to consultations respecting the ongoing negotiations of Canada-Mercosur and Canada-Pacific Alliance free trade agreements (FTAs), the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), joined by the Climate Action Network Canada, Council of Canadians, Greenpeace Canada, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, the Trade Justice Network, Unifor and the United Steelworkers, have […]

Unions and climate organizations come together to call for more equitable and sustainable trade

Unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe Territories [OTTAWA] (May 2, 2018) — As the ongoing NAFTA renegotiations reach a pivotal moment, nearly 50 of Canada’s major labour, climate and social justice organizations have come together to call on the Canadian Government to honour its commitment to implement a progressive trade agenda and to embrace trade policies that are compatible […]

Pan-Canadian civil society coalition launches new website

December 8, 2017 — Today, the pan-Canadian civil society coalition on NAFTA launches its new bilingual NAFTA website. The pan-Canadian coalition, which emerged from the North American civil society gathering on NAFTA in Mexico City in May 2017, is made up of labour, environmental, farmer, social justice and other civil society groups across English-speaking Canada and Quebec. […]