To the Editor:
This past Saturday I attended the Free Trade Area of the Americas protest on the border where I-89 enters Canada. There, activists listed the reasons why they were denied entry into Canada. The police were lined up and ready to enforce that denial. They documented the entire event through video cameras recording every car that entered the "Welcome" center and photographers on the overpass to the south and the buildings to the north. Voicing my opinion to that crowd did not pacify me. It only pissed me off more.
Bush is restricting the Free Trade agreement only to those countries with a democratic government. He overlooked the small fact that we do not currently have a democratic government and certainly Canada does not either. Protester's voices were barely audible past the cement and chain-link wall that blocked off the entire downtown section of Quebec City. That's even assuming the protesters had teargas free breath to voice their argument. And that's even assuming they got there in the first place. One woman in a wheelchair was forbidden entry into the country for a jaywalking offense that was dismissed before any court appearance. A trio of students from North Carolina was denied because $100 and two credit cards was not enough money for three days. Of course they were welcome to come back Monday, following the event, when $100 would be sufficient.
Hardly any of the details regarding this agreement have been released. That which has been released was so frightening that I fear their release. Corporations will be able to sue governments when the government passes legislation that may affect the corporations ability to profit. The case will go to an independent tribunal; the three judges for which will be chosen by both sides. The results of the case could only be appealed in rare circumstances and those verdicts would only be released to the public if both parties agree. Already NAFTA's version of the process has forced the governments of California and Canada to pay $13 million to the Ethyl Corporation for attempting to enact legislation banning a gasoline additive suspected of causing memory impairment and Parkinson's disease. These corporations often have operating budgets higher than a small country's GNP. What will happen when two of them face off in this private tribunal? Forget about environmental protection. Forget about trickle down -- unless you're talking about into the groundwater.
Bush has signed agreements to finalize the agreement by January of 2005 with plans to implement it later that year. Though globalization is probably inevitable, economic globalization should not come first. We need a solid foundation of human rights and environmental standards to build upon before we ever think about corporations. Otherwise these corporations will only exploit the Latin American governments like our government has exploited us. Enough already.
