EDITORIA | UN report on Canadian poverty | condemnation of Tory decade report released in late May by the United Nations’ Committee on Social, Economic | and Cultural rights says our country isone | of the richest industrialized nations in the world but that we are neglecting millions of poor Canadians. According to the report | we are allowing homelessness and poverty | ‘ to continue at disturbing levels despite the | richness of our country. | The report is no surprise to critics of the Tory govern- | ment and hundreds of thousands of workers who have | lost their jobs because of bad government policies. Says the report: “Considering Canada’s enviable situa- tion . . . there seems to have been no reasonable progress in alleviating poverty over the last decade.” That decade has been the Tory decade. In power since | 1984 the Progressive Conservative party is largely | responsible for the downward plight of working | Canadians. The report says that the federal government has reduced social spending by cutting cost sharing agreements with the provinces and that the homeless sit- uation is getting worse while the line-ups at food banks are getting longer. “A further concern for the committee is the evidence of hunger in Canada and the reliance on food banks operat- ed by charitable donations,” the report states. It also says that over half of single mothers as well as a large percent- age of children live in poverty. The Canadian government, according to the UN report, does not appear to make effort to monitor the extent of homelessness and spends a very low percentage of the federal budget on social housing. In response to the UN report a spokesman for the fed- eral health ministry said “we reject the premise the gov- Friday the 13th of August ernment is not concerned about social assistance.” was an unlucky day for But all evidence does show that the federal government | Canada because it was on this has been ruthlessly cutting social programs and institut- | day that our country, the U.S. ing policies which will see universality in access to social | and Mexico announced they programs eradicated. | had reached “side-deal” agree- Since 1989 the feds have gutted the Unemployment | ments on the North American Insurance Program, eliminated universality to the | Bree ree Agreement. nose Canadian pension plan, and have drastically cut federal- | S06 ca/s on environmental Ala ‘ | protection and labour stan- Pag ictal Programas for social programs such as welfare, |gards were successfully ealth, and education. ushed by the Bill Clinton The UN report is right and should be a warning sign to | vaministration as a campaign Canadians that we are on the edge of greater social promise to pacify his political upheavals ahead. A large underclass of Canadians is supporters who believe that emerging. jobs will be lost to NAFTA as Unfortunately the report does not deal with the eco- tions to Mexico to enjoy weak A = low wage labour and lax or Free Trade Agreement has wrought. Nor does it deal with Bis : the concern that more trouble is ahead with the proposed pecs enucrConmental North American Free Trade Agreement. persistent violations of envi- | ronmental laws, or labour | standards, then our Federal be the decision of the province's labour board to _| enforcing penalties. allow scabs to vote to decertify a union. |__A lot has changed since This happened to workers at the Zeidler plywood plant | March of this year when the Although we Canadians think we are way ahead of | 3 7 other countries in the areas of labour law, we should eae ie ete on think again. What happened at Zeidlers is no different | Said then International | how to enforce our particular | guidelines.” enforcement. = > ye Repression of workers’ rights | court will impose stiff fines. in Edmonton (see story page one) where the company, in federal government told than what happens in third world countries where strikes | Trade Minister Michael | Well, the U.S. and Mexico | will be telling us how to | enforce our guidelines. In Dimi: moa Se) The side deals say that if reaches new low in Alberta gauche unger cooperation with the government, succeeded in decerti- | Canadians that it would not are broken with the collaboration of employers, the Wilson, “I think it would be an | Matters of trade the U.S. has a businesses move their opera- nomic destruction and social effects that the U.S.-Canada | the U.S. and Mexico gang up on Canadian producers for lot of bad things have happened to Albertan work- | the U.S. will be able to ers in recent memory but the new low point has to | instruct our federal courts in 4 “ agree to side agreements on fying the IWA after a five year strike. Ranaronmentiondisncus cere police, the courts, and governments. incursion on our sovereignty if the U.S. or Mexico told us | lot of power in influencing | how the Mexicans act. The Official publication of WA-CANADA NorMAN GARCIA GERRY STONEY. .President whole NAFTA agreement was Editor Sen eee resident pais Y on Mexico by U.S. ie | banking institutions which Mis HARVEY ARCAND. th Vice President Max roughshod over the . TERRY SMITH. . Secretary. lexican economy for the last Vancouver, B.C. : i Be decade. iat ‘VGE 4B2 At the same time we are BROADWAY 2 PRINTERS LTD. getting NAFTA shoved down our throats the U.S. is flexing its muscles. In an open act of aggression against Canadian wheat producers the U.S. Agriculture Secretary has said that his government will openly subsidize 1.4 million tonnes of wheat sold to Mexico to completely push Canadian wheat producers out of Mexico and corner the Mexican market. In a letter to Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari leading Senators Bob Dole and Max Baucus told the Mexicans to take countervail- ing action against Canadian wheat. They told Salinas that their support of NAFTA is con- ditioned on that action against Canadian wheat. Now the U.S. will use its Export Enhancement Pro- gram against Canadian wheat production in violation of the current U.S. Canada free trade agreement which says that each country must avoid interfering with each other’s export interests in third coun- tries. Even the Tories’ own Agri- cultural Minister Charles Mayer says the U.S. is acting like a bully rather than some- body who believes in free trade. When the side deals were announced U.S. Trade Rep- resentative Mickey Kantor said sanctions are present to ensure that companies don’t get competitive edge by evad- ing labour laws or environ- mental standards. Since Canada has both bet- ter labour and environmental standards than either the U.S. or Mexico it is highly unlikely that Canada would be able to enlist the assistance of either country to take its side on such issues as unfair labour practices. If we could sanction the U.S. or Mexico for weak labour standards then we’ wouldn’t stop sanctioning until at least every right-to- work state and the entire LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1993/5 le iS § My x ie S nl lw S (NGRID RICE FOR U.S. trade subsidy agression increases as negotiations reach “side deal” agreements nation of Mexico was hit with countervails. But that simply is not going to happen. In mat- ters of international trade the Tory government is willing to roll over. In reaction to the side deals, Canadian Labour Con- gress Bob White said: “It is clear that in the negotiation of the so-called “side-deals”, only Canadian corporate interests and the political interests of the U.S. adminis- tration were represented.” The completion of the side deals were pushed for com- pletion before a summer break in the U.S. Congress. A CLC study released in late July states that at least 371,000 manufacturing jobs are at risk of being lost if the NAFTA is put into place. The study, which examined labour intensive manufacturing jobs that pay over $7.00/hr. pre- dicts that 50,000 jobs can be lost in clothing, 93,000 in printing and publishing, 49,000 in metal fabrication, and 37,000 in furniture manu- facturing. At least a week after the side deals, Canada’s provin- cial government had not even seen them. Even though most jurisdiction over labour and environment rests in the provinces, the federal govern- ment went ahead. Prime Minister Kim Camp- bell said there is no reason why Mexico and the U.S. should be allowed to forceful- ly intervene in Canadian administration of environ- mental and labour law. She’s right. They don’t have to use force to use Canada’s federal courts. The Tories are passing legislation to ensure that the U.S. and Mexico will have no problems what-so-ever. For those of us who like to mark the words of politicians, listen to International Trade Minister Thomas Hockin: “Canada will never be subject to trade sanctions. Never, never, never.”