Premier Kathleen Wynne speaks at the conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, October 16, 2017. (photo by Maureen Revait) Premier Kathleen Wynne speaks at the conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, October 16, 2017. (photo by Maureen Revait)
Windsor

No NAFTA Deal At Any Price

Premiers and governors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region, who were in Windsor Friday, reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring NAFTA re-negotiations strengthen the trade relationship in the region.

"We're all neighbours, we're all friends and the best answer is we mutually benefit together by finding ways to do more things together and that's a message I'm very happy to carry to Washington and Ottawa, and down to Mexico City," says Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.

The politicians are in Windsor and Detroit this weekend for the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers. They are discussing all issues that effect the region including the health of the waterways, trade and mobility in the region.

Premier Kathleen Wynne says there are many NAFTA proposals on the table currently that are not acceptable to Canada and Ontario.

"We are not interested in a deal at any price, at any cost. We need a deal that is good for the people of Canada, the people of Ontario. We will always stand up to protect those jobs, protect the people who we represent," says Wynne.

In the latest round of negotiations, the United States proposed the end of supply management in ten years and 50% US content in the auto sector.

Wynne says NAFTA has allowed the entire region on both sides of the border to prosper and and any renegotiations need to strengthen that relationship.

"The free trade framework has benefitted all of our jurisdictions and so it is worrisome that there is such a gap between that understanding and what seems to be coming from other parts of the administration," says Wynne.

Unifor holds NAFTA rally, October 20, 2017. Photo by Maureen Revait) Unifor holds NAFTA rally, October 20, 2017. (Photo by Maureen Revait)

Meanwhile, members of the NDP and local labour groups denounced the current NAFTA agreement for depleting manufacturing in the country at a rally held Friday. They say the agreement needs to be scrapped or majorly restructured to put the needs of the workers before corporate profit.

"A free trade agreement must be renegotiated or thrown in the garbage if you can't put labour on a level playing field. If you can't say that the Mexican workers deserve to have free collective bargaining to raise their standard or the right to work legislation needs to be thrown out in the States, we should be competing on our productivity and quality," says James Stewart, president of Unifor Local 444.

After four rounds of negotiations, trade critic NDP MP Tracey Ramsey says not enough is being done to protect Canada's interests.

"It has to tackle things like currency manipulation, labour rights, gender and indiginous equality, human rights and environmental protections," says Ramsey.

NAFTA negotiations have recently been extended into February of 2018, the originally deadline was December.

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