October 17, 2008 - No. 145
Canada-EU and Francophonie Summits
More Secret Deals Hatched Behind
the Backs of the People
• More Secret
Deals Hatched Behind the Backs of the People
• Conception of Rights of the Francophonie
For Your Information
• Harper's "Six-Point Economic Plan"
• Grim Forecasts Pile Pressure on Ottawa
- Paul Vieira, Financial Post
• Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement
Canada-EU and Francophonie Summits
More Secret Deals Hatched Behind
the Backs of the People
 Today, French President Nicolas
Sarkozy is to
address Quebec's National Assembly, "the first time a French president
has ever spoken to the provincial [sic] legislature." "He is
expected to sign off on a France-Quebec [labour mobility] agreement to
mutually recognize the qualifications of doctors,
nurses and other professionals," the CBC reports.
For his part, Stephen Harper is milking the occasion for
all it is worth, no doubt to show how well he will "govern on behalf of
all Canadians."
"The opening of a gathering of the world's
french-speaking nations [the Francophonie] Friday may take a back seat
to talks between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and European Union
leaders over the world economic turmoil," the CBC tells us. "The
meeting in Quebec City between Harper, French President Nicolas
Sarkozy and José Manuel Barroso, president of the European
Commission, was initially supposed to focus on a possible free trade
deal between Canada and the EU. The Friday meeting's new direction was
announced by Harper as he laid out a six-point economic plan following
his re-election this week."
"The global financial crisis will be discussed at the
Canada-European Union Summit," Harper said. "We will also explore
strengthening the economic partnership between us and the EU," he said.
"He promised to make sure Canadian banks are not put at
a disadvantage by rescue efforts in Europe and the United States, where
governments are pumping money into financial institutions to protect
them," the CBC reports. This refers to the massive pay-the-rich schemes
announced in Europe: $650
billion in Germany, $697 billion in the UK. Clearly, Harper has no
intention of being outmatched. "We are examining what other countries
are doing very closely to make sure that our banks are not put at a
competitive disadvantage," he said.
Are we to understand that protecting the obscene
profits Canadian banks have siphoned off of Canadians and overseas in
the
past few years are the proof that he will govern on behalf of all
Canadians?
France's Secretary of State for
the Francophonie Alain Joyandet said the financial crisis will take up
"'all the space' at the bilateral Canada-European Summit today...," the
Montreal Gazette writes, and that it would also
dominate the Francophone summit. The Gazette quotes
Joyandet saying there would be "maybe a little bit (of discussion) on
language, too." Joyandet added that "the base of the philosophy of the
[French] president" is harmonization in the response to the crisis,
with all countries in the world adopting the same controls and the same
rules, the common goal being to restore
liquidity and credit. "The first solutions were proposed by Europe. The
United States position will evolve," said Joyandet.
In this way, the media coverage of the meetings in
Quebec City this weekend leave us no closer to knowing anything about
what will be discussed, let alone about the deals hatched behind our
backs.
In this issue TML is posting for your
information an item on
what Harper said in his "Six-Point Economic Plan," an item on the
demands of the CD
Howe Institute to "restore confidence in shattered financial markets,"
and an item which addresses the substance of the
Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement.
Conception of Rights of the Francophonie
Albania, Austria, Cyprus, Croatia, Greece... all members
of the Francophonie. Why, you may well ask, would an organization "of
French-speaking countries and governments" have these countries as some
of its 55 members and the likes of Ukraine as one its thirteen
observers? What is this organization and what
does it do? Apparently, "the prerequisite for admission is not the
degree of French usage in the member countries, but a prevalent
presence of French culture and French language in the member country's
identity, usually stemming from France's interaction with other nations
in its history." (Wikipedia) This still does not explain the
membership or observer status of many the above mentioned
countries.
But clearly the phrase France's "interaction with other nations in its
history...." is a poor explanation for the establishment of the French
colonies around the
world, the imposition of French systems of exploitation and oppression
and their devastating consequences on the victims.
In fact, a majority of the former colonies are still
trying to affirm their own languages as the languages of instruction,
media, the courts and all other aspects which express their lives,
because they are still contending with those who usurped power over
them by force.
Without the authority to establish a system of governance
based on their own historical development, economic development and
thought material, and expressed
in their own language, the right to self-determination means little. Is
the Francophonie an organization to assist the former French colonies
to affirm their right to be? Wikipedia
tells us "Few of the member states are majority French-speaking aside
from France and its overseas
possessions, and sub-national members. French functions in several
other member states as a common language while having little current
presence in the other members, being that the links are mainly
historical and cultural."
 What should people make of the innocent phrase
"mainly historical and cultural" to describe the links between France
or French and the members of the Francophonie? Would such a thing fool
the
people of Cite Soleil and the rest of Haiti, whose democratically
elected president was ousted in a coup organized by the U.S.,
Canada and France (the latter two being Francophonie
members), or the people of Martinique which still languishes under the
French courts in the French language, or those of France's former
African colonies targeted for Sarkozy's new scramble for Africa to make
ever better use of their raw materials and cheap labour?
Under the heading "French language, cultural and
linguistic diversity" we read: "The primary mission of the organization
is the promotion of the French language as an international language
and the promotion of worldwide cultural and linguistic diversity in an
era of economic globalization. In this
regard, countries that are members of the Francophonie have contributed
largely to the adoption by the UNESCO of the Convention on the
Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expressions (October
20, 2005)."
 Pursuing our inquiry a little further, the next
heading
reads: "Peace, democracy and human rights." We read: "Similar to
organizations such as the Commonwealth of Nations, the Francophonie has
as its stated aims the promotion of democracy and human rights.
Following the November 3, 2000 Declaration
of Bamako, the Francophonie has given itself the financial means to
attain a number of objectives in that regard. In recent years, some
participating governments, notably the government of Quebec and Canada [sic],
pushed for the adoption of a Charter in order for the organization to
sanction member
States that are known to have poor records when it comes to the
protection of human rights and the practice of democracy. Such a
measure was debated at least twice but was never approved."
A news item in the Montreal Gazette states,
"The Francophonie, established to promote the French language, took a
blow on the eve of the Summit when Rwanda, a former Belgian colony,
announced that English will be the main teaching language in the east
African country. Rwandan
President Paul Kagame blames France for fomenting the 1994 genocide in
his country that killed an estimated 900,000 people."
Perhaps all of this tells us something about the
conception of
rights which the dominant countries of the Francophonie are promoting.
After the genocide of 900,000 people in Rwanda, a solution given is to
adopt English as the main language of teaching. Do the people there not
have their own languages which
should be the main language of teaching? English or French, it can't be
much skin off Canada's nose since it is a member of both the
Francophonie and the inappropriately named "Commonwealth of Nations."
Inappropriate since it has nothing to do with the common wealth of
these nations any more than does the
Francophonie.
Peace, democracy, human rights, linguistic and cultural
diversity -- how will all of these lofty goals be achieved at the 11th
Summit of the Francophonie held this weekend in Quebec City (as part of
celebrations of the 400th anniversary of its establishment)?
As with other summits which are divorced from the needs
of the people and thus held under high security and behind closed
doors, Canadians will find out little about what takes place at the
Francophonie Summit. Vague reports inform that "leaders are expected to
discuss issues such as bolstering the French language around the world,
democracy and the environment."
Quebec Premier Jean Charest says "the economy should take centre-stage."
For Your Information
Harper's "Six-Point Economic Plan"
At an October 15 post-election news conference in
Calgary, Prime
Minister Stephen Harper released his government's "six-point economic
plan."
"The No. 1 job of the Prime Minister of Canada is to
protect this country's economy, our earnings, our savings, and our
jobs, during a time of global economic uncertainty," Harper told the
news conference. "The mandate we received allows us to continue moving
forward."
Claiming to address the concerns of ordinary Canadians,
Harper said, "These are challenging times; Canadians are worried right
now, and those worries are understandable. I want to assure Canadians
that together we will weather the storm, and we will position our
economy to emerge stronger than
ever."
The six points of the Conservative economic plan are as
follows:
1. A commitment to take whatever appropriate steps are
necessary to ensure that Canada's financial system is not put at a
competitive disadvantage. ("These measures will not include a large
outlay of taxpayer dollars, such as the multibillion-dollar packages
being rolled out in the United States," Harper
is quoted as saying.)
2. Discussing the global financial crisis and
strengthening the Canada-EU economic partnership at the October 17
Canada-European Union Summit.
3. Summoning Parliament to meet this Fall and tabling an
Economic and Fiscal Update before the end of November.
4. Participating in the G20 finance ministers' meeting,
November 8-9, and calling for a further meeting of G7 finance ministers
to build on progress made at their last meeting.
5. Keeping government spending focused and under control
by continuing with the four-year Strategic Review of departmental
expenditures.
6. Convening a First Ministers' Meeting on the Economy
to discuss with premiers and territorial leaders a joint approach to
the global financial crisis.
Grim Forecasts Pile Pressure on Ottawa
- Paul Vieira, Financial Post, October
16, 2008
Pressure on Ottawa to restore confidence in shattered
financial markets mounted Thursday, October 16 with calls for the
government to
move "quickly" to guarantee borrowing, and for the Bank of Canada to
undertake another round of deep rate cuts.
The advice, mostly from the C.D. Howe Institute
think-tank, came on the same day as a series of economists issued grim
forecasts. One report, from Warren Justin, Bank of Nova Scotia's chief
economist, warned the Canadian economy would contract in 2009, by 0.2%.
Sherry Cooper, chief economist
at BMO Capital Markets, said Canada was headed for a recession and that
Ottawa "will awaken to the need for deficit spending."
Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, is set to meet
Friday, October 17 with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, and Jose
Manuel
Barroso, the European Commission President, at a Quebec City summit in
which they will touch upon co-ordinated global efforts to restore
stability in financial markets, and encourage
lending to businesses and households.
To date, the federal government has agreed to acquire up
to $25-billion of insured mortgages from the chartered banks to provide
them with additional liquidity. Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada has
injected $26-billion into money markets, broadened the type of
collateral it will accept from dealers and
expanded the number of participants that can access central bank
financing. The central bank also participated last week in a
co-ordinated global rate cut of a half percentage point.
The C.D. Howe's monetary policy council -- a 10-member
group of private-sector and university-based economists -- said the
Conservative government needs to step in and guarantee interbank
lending because of "severe stresses" in credit markets.
"Government guarantees in other countries threatened to
make Canadian institutions look like less attractive counterparties,
which would exacerbate the stresses and high spreads afflicting the
interbank market," the C.D. Howe council said in a statement.
"The council felt that a lending guarantee would create
a more favourable environment for monetary stimulus by the Bank of
Canada, and help ensure that movements in the overnight rate [exert]
their desired effect."
A spokesman for Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, said
Thursday Ottawa is keeping a "close eye" on credit conditions and would
respond on an as-needed basis.
There were suggestions Ottawa could move as early as
Friday when the Bank of Canada releases details of a
previously-announced term facility designed for money-market fund
managers. But Ottawa insiders said no announcement was forthcoming.
The C.D. Howe council also called on the central bank to
cut its benchmark-lending rate by another 50 basis points, to 2%, in
light of "severe stress" in credit markets. The bank next meets on
Tuesday.
"The turbulence in credit markets and the rapidly
deteriorating economic outlook has created an extraordinarily wide
range of uncertainty about the future paths of output and prices," the
council said.
In a related development, Bay Street rushed to take
Ottawa up on an emergency scheme designed to supply banks with
desperately needed cash flow. The government bought up $5-billion worth
of mortgage-backed securities from Canada's banks in a special auction
process backed by the taxpayer.
The average yield on the auction operated by the Canada
Mortgage Housing Corporation was 4.241%, with a high yield of 4.679%,
suggesting some institutions are more in need of cash than others, and
underlining the elevated cost of capital.
The strong demand seen in the auction underlines the
financial pressures being put on the country's banks and prompted calls
for the current $25-billion limit of government scheme to be lifted.
Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement
A September 18 Globe and Mail report states,
"Canadian and European officials say they plan to begin negotiating a
massive agreement to integrate Canada's economy with the 27 nations of
the European Union, with preliminary talks to be launched at an Oct. 17
summit [...] three days after
the federal election." The article continues, "...a senior EU official
involved in the talks described (them) as 'deep economic integration
negotiations.'"
Deal Would Exceed Scope of NAFTA
The article states, "The proposed pact would far exceed
the scope of older agreements such as NAFTA by encompassing not only
unrestricted trade in goods, services and investment and the removal of
tariffs, but also the free movement of skilled people and
an open market in government services and procurement -- which would
require that Canadian governments allow European companies to bid as
equals on government contracts for both goods and services and end the
favouring of local or national providers of public-sector services."
Text of Deal Not Released During the Election
The Globe reports, "Because of the election,
Mr. Harper appears to have decided not to unveil a full text of the
proposed agreement, but instead to use the summit to inaugurate the
trade talks with the launch of a 'scoping exercise' that
will quickly set the goals of the pact and lead to formal
'comprehensive trade and investment negotiations' to begin in 'early
2009,' according to communications between senior Canadian and European
officials examined by the newspaper. The two governments
have completed a detailed study of
the proposed agreement that will be unveiled shortly after the
election, should the Conservatives win. Both Ottawa and Brussels have
had staff work on a draft text for a deal they had hoped would be
introduced at a Canada-EU summit, to be attended by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy, European Commission President
José Manuel Barroso and Mr. Harper [...] on Oct. 17."
During the election, the Council of Canadians, in a
poll conducted by Strategic Communications, found that 77 percent of
Canadians wanted the draft text of the Canada-European Union
trade deal made public before the October 14 federal election vote.
Big Business Backs the Deal
While the public has not been allowed to see the study
or the draft text, apparently large corporations have. The article
notes, "Proponents, including all of Canada's major business-lobby
organizations, are in favour of the deal..."
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