FTAA Marches--CoC Press Release

The Council of Canadians will be protesting the hard-line position the Canadian government has taken in favour of maintaining investment and services clauses in the proposed agreement. Canadian trade negotiators are continuing to push for an aggressive FTAA deal despite the 'FTAA Lite' proposal coming from the United States and Brazil. "At the World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun, Canada's Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew was aggressively pushing for investment and services clauses against the wishes of many poor countries. The result was that the negotiations collapsed. Now, less than 10 weeks later, Mr. Pettigrew is up to his same old tricks," says Jean-Yves Lefort, Trade Campaigner for The Council of Canadians. "In 3 weeks Paul Martin will be Canada's new Prime Minister. Canadians have been telling the Chrétien government that it has 'no mandate' to pursue these corporate-driven free trade agreements. Mr. Martin must make it clear now that he will only pursue fair trade agreements," says Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Director of Campaigns and Communications for The Council of Canadians. More than ten thousand people have already gathered for the march that will be starting around 2:00 pm EST. Thousands of police officers have been deployed. 185 buses full of protesters have reportedly been detained en route to the demonstration. Non-violent direct action activities are scheduled to begin at 4:00 pm EST. - 30 - For more information, contact: Laura Sewell, Media Officer - Cell in Miami: 613.795.8685; e-mail: lsewell@canadians.org Also available for comment: Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Director of Campaigns and Communications, Edmonton, AB Sarah Erhardt, Water Campaigner, Moncton, NB Jean-Yves Lefort, Trade Campaigner, Moncton, NB Anil Naidoo, Blue Planet Project, Edmonton, AB Fred Wilson, Board Member, Ottawa, ON Leo Broderick, Board Member, Charlottetown, PEI Naomi Klein, Toronto, ON Art Manuel, Vancouver, BC -- The Council of Canadians 502-151 Slater Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5H3. Tel: (613) 233-2773; Toll-free: 1-800-387-7177 Fax: (613) 233-6776 inquiries@canadians.org www.canadians.org