I'm Shaen Johnston, an ecologist with the Coalition Climat Montréal.
I'm tired of trade deals that hand over our sovereignty. The government can't protect our rights and environment, as everyone earlier has said repeatedly. What's in the best interests of the powerful industrial magnates is not in the best interests of the majority of Canadians.
To start with, the majority of Canadians are employed by small and medium-sized businesses, not these monster-sized ones. Already, a similar agreement squelched solar panel industries in Ontario, because they were taken to court for favouring locally produced elements. This will be much, much worse.
The partnership will end up being entirely against the COP21 objectives. We can't continue to make decisions based purely on economics. We're facing annihilation by climate change. We have to change the way we do business. We must not be uselessly stripping and shipping everything all over the world.
Canada is back to being a colony, supplying the world with finite natural resources at basement-sale prices, while the future is in small and local businesses. It's immoral to be bringing in merchandise that's produced by people with no acceptable salary, health, or safety, and we're going to end up being in exactly that position ourselves.
I repeat: this agreement is not in the best interests of the majority of Canadians. We need to change the way we think. We need partnerships that are win-win, not dominant and controlled, where one is dominant and the other loses.
No, we have to change. We are in a partnership in this world. We share this world with everyone around us and, with the natural environment being destroyed, we won't have much to share.
It's up to us and to you, and no, it's not acceptable: do not accept this agreement. It's not in the best interests of anyone but a small minority that is taking the lion's share and leaving us not only destitute but facing annihilation together.