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International Trade committee My concerns can be summarized as follows. I think the labour rights should be subjected to the same enforcement mechanism that is given to investor rights. Again, whether that's in a side agreement or not, to some extent, may be beside the point. Clearly, if you have the labour r
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson
International Trade committee In respect of the enforcement of labour rights, there's no question that I believe the Canadian government has negotiated an agreement that is inferior to the one negotiated by the U.S. government.
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson
International Trade committee That's correct, and again, the labour movement was brought into that discussion. I think that's important to note.
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson
International Trade committee In fact, the whole history of hemispheric free trade reflects the fact that the U.S. legislature has been, with respect to those present, far more engaged and active on this issue than the Canadian legislature has been. Recall that the only reason we have any environmental or lab
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson
International Trade committee Obviously these are enormous trade agreements. They're long documents. They provide for different rights in different areas. I think the central difference between the two agreements, from a labour perspective, is that the labour provisions in the Peru-U.S. agreement are subject
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson
International Trade committee I know we're running short on time. Let me be--
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson
International Trade committee Thank you for your question. If you don't mind, I will answer in English, because I am more comfortable doing so. If you look at the agreement itself, the investor about whom you speak has access to chapter 8 of the agreement. It's right here, section B, “Settlement of Disputes
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson
International Trade committee That's correct, particularly as they relate to enforcement.
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson
International Trade committee It's an interesting question. The AFL-CIO has been in fairly detailed discussions with the Democratic Party about what labour provisions would be acceptable to the AFL-CIO. For a variety of political reasons, the AFL-CIO was ultimately not able to endorse the U.S.-Peru agreement,
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson
International Trade committee Good morning. My name is Mark Rowlinson. I'm counsel to the United Steelworkers union and I am also on the international affairs committee of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers. The United Steelworkers is an international trade union with roughly 250,000 members in Ca
May 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Mark Rowlinson