Canadian labour opposes Colombia free trade deal

The Canadian labour movement is sharply critical of the Harper government for making a free trade agreement with Colombia it's first priority for the fall session of Parliament-despite that country's horrific human rights record.

In urging MPs to vote down Harper's free trade bill, Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti says "If our MPs pass this legislation they will be signalling to the world the abandonment of our democratic values abroad.

"Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world to be a unionized worker, with hundreds of murders of trade unionists every year," Georgetti says.

When Parliament reconvened this week, the Conservatives tabled a bill to ratify a free trade agreement signed by Harper and his right-wing Colombian counterpart in 2008. Earlier, public pressure from labour, the federal NDP and human rights groups had forced the Conservatives to delay legal ratification of the trade deal by Parliament.

"Ratifying a free trade deal with a regime that has the worst human rights record in the Americas sends the wrong message," Georgetti says. According to the International Trade Union Confederation, murders of trade unionists in Colombia increased 25 percent from 2007 to 2008. To date in 2009, 28 union members have been murdered.

The NDP opposes the deal, while Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals have given Harper their formal backing for it.

"It is extremely irresponsible for Canada to sign a trade deal with a country that has the worst human rights situation in the Western Hemisphere and that is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a trade unionist," says NDP critic Peter Julian, MP for Burnaby-New Westminster.

"The Conservatives and Liberals need to make the respect of fundamental human rights a precondition of any trade deal," he says.

A majority of Colombian unions and advocacy groups also oppose the deal. They warn that only multinational companies-including a number of big Canadian mining outfits-will benefit.

"The political, economic, social, cultural, ethical and environmental impacts will be catastrophic for a country like Colombia," the Colombian unions say.