This is to advise you that I have applied for and received a permit to picket Parliament Hill from Monday, 14/1/17 to Saturday, 1/4/17.
I will seek to picket Parliament at least on those days when Bill C-30 ( C.E.T.A.) is being debated or voted on in 3rd Reading at least one hour before and one hour after such debate or voting should occur.
With regard to the matter as to whether C.E.T.A.’s strictures admit only to the use of Halifax and Montreal, should I assume that, according to what you say in the ” President’s message” of the December edition of ” The Canadian Sailor”, that you have it solely on the authority of the government that such restrictions apply, or is it on that of the Unions’s Legal Counsel and/or others familiar with the Agreement?
Again, in the ” President’s message”, when you refer to the Canadian Shipowners, are you referring to the Canadian Shipowners Association ( C.S.A.)?
As you know, The C.S.A. was merged with the Chamber of Marine Commerce on September 28th, 2016, and ceased operating as such just over a month before the Canada Europe Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement ( C.E.T.A.) was signed by the Prime Minister in Brussels last October.
The Chamber of Marine Commerce, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, advocates on trade and transportation, policy and regulations, particularly those dealing with the marine mode. They represent such companies as Algoma Central Marine, Canada Steamship Lines and Desgagnes.
Should it be among the last named companies or the Chamber that you were referring to when you say that the Canadian Shipowners have told the Government that they don’t need the Maritime provisions in C.E.T.A. or T.I.S.A., none appear to have said so in any press release or publication.
There remain:
3 weeks before the European Parliament will probably approve C.E.T.A.;
Less than 7 days before Parliament reconvenes after which it may at any time call a vote for 3rd reading of Bill C-30 and ratify C.E.T.A.
Once both have done so, C.E.T.A. will be regarded as provisionally approved and more than 90% of it’s clauses, including the Maritime Transport Chapter, will come into effect,not in 18 months or more, but immediately, likely by the Spring, 2017 opening of the Saint-Lawrence Seaway.
This will likely, within a few years, end the Canadian Merchant Marine and it’s thousands of Canadian seafaring jobs.