Stop CETA from sinking Canadian Ships
With regard to reference to Halifax and Montreal being mentioned in C.E.T.A., it has been pointed out to me that, besides Halifax being mentioned at one point with regard to measures taken in 1995, both ports are mentioned twice in Reservation II-C-14 on page 1210, paragraphs 4.(b) (i) and ( ii) and nowhere else.
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.
Dear Mr. President.:
I should like to congratulate the Vice-President for his fine speech, scaled over the duration of the demonstration before the Riding Office of the Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau, during difficult circumstances of space, weather and an urban environment.
I should also like to credit the speeches of Vince, Mrs. Sicoli, the Representative of the Federal Transport Employees, the N.D.P.Member for Rosemount and others.
The Members of the S.I.U. Of Canada, I’m sure you will find, look forward to hear your plans to forestall Approval of C.E.T.A. and to be carried out in the coming days and weeks.
As you know, there are only 17 more days before Parliament reconvenes and will be able to at any time thereafter end Debate on Bill C-30 ( C.E.T.A.) and force a Final Vote.
Of course, in only 20 days, the European Parliament will vote on C.E.T.A., and having passed both houses, will come immediately 95% into effect, including the Maritime Transport Chapter.
C.E.T.A. could therefore be in effect before the 2017 Opening of the Saint-Lawrence Seaway.
What actions do you plan for Saturday, 21/1/17, the International Day of Action against C.E.T.A., when we will have the opportunity to march in Unison with C.E.T.A.s’ many Canadian opponents?
What a wonderful opportunity for the S.I.U. of Canada to step up and defend, not only the jobs of its’ Members, but those of all Canadian Sailors!
Particularly when the government will not even deny before its’ accusers in Parliament that C.E.T.A. will destroy the Canadian Merchant Marine entirely!
I would remind you that in obtaining a permit, as I am, to demonstrate on Parliament Hill for when Debate on Bill C-30 ( C.E.T.A.) is ended, a Vote forced and the Canadian Merchant Marine destroyed forever, as well as its’ thousands of Canadian seafaring jobs, application must be made at least 10 days in advance.
In passing, I am still not in receipt of the Legal Opinions on C.E.T.A. you said on December 5th were available.
I’m sure that all, like myself, are waiting to hear your plans to forestall C.E.T.A., to be carried out in the coming days and weeks before Parliament reconvenes and afterwards.
Fraternally,
Thank you for your e-mail of 21/12/16.
In the S.I.U. of Canada’s Facebook page Update of 14/12/16, in the 1st paragraph it is stated:
” Tomorrow, the Bill will be read clause by clause by the Committee and shortly thereafter will be law. What does all this mean to the Maritime Community? It means that Canadian Parliament has passed CETA.”
Parliament has not passed CETA.
So far, Bill C-30 has only passed 2nd Reading.
The government did not pass CETA in the day and a half remaining following clause by clause examination.
They must now wait until 11 a.m. Monday, January 30th, 2017 before they can have 3rd Reading of the Bill and a Vote.
There remains 24 days before CETA can be passed.
Paragraph 2 is all in the past tense:
” …NDP who represented our Industry… Numerous NDP MPs remarked… we indeed had a loud voice… They fought very hard for us…”
We still have 24 days.
Paragraph 3 states:
” It will take at least another 18 months, or longer, for the EU to debate CETA in the 28 National Parliaments it needs to pass.
We don’t have 12-18 months.
We may not have even 30 days.
Once the Parliament of Canada and the European Parliament pass CETA, It will be considered provisionally approved.
95% of it’s clauses come into force immediately, including the Maritime Transport Chapter.
• Further, the S.I.U. of Canada Facebook site update for 21/12/16 states in paragraph 4:
” Domestic cargo is not subject to the feedering that is permitted under CETA.”
The amount of cargo transported by ship for use within Canada is infinitesimal compared to that transported for international export, which is mostly what is transported by Canadian ships.
Domestic cargo might represent 10% of what is presently carried on Canadian ships but is probably much less.
In paragraph 5, final sentence of the Update, it is stated:
” Now we move the fight to what is the Government definition of ” Domestic Cargo.””
Bill C-30 ( CETA) is not approved by Parliament.
To focus the fight now on Domestic Cargo is to focus merely on what CETA might leave should it pass.
Which it hasn’t.
You were informing me the other day that I made a false statement at the Fall meeting that there was no reference to the ports of Halifax and Montreal in the Maritime Transport Chapter of CETA and that such references were elsewhere in the treaty.
Could you tell me exactly where?
On the matter of the Legal Opinions relating to CETA which you have ordered the Unions’ lawyers and government lobbying firms on Monday, 12/12/16 to send me:
I am still not in receipt of them.
Since CETA cannot be approved by Parliament for at least another 24 days, I and others still have time to review them.
But should you still intend to send them, I bid you hurry:
At 11 a.m. Monday, January 30th, the Speakers’ gavel will fall, calling Parliament to order.
After that, Debate on Bill C-30 can be ended at any time, the Final Vote ordered and CETA approved.
Dear Mr. President:
I write to you this Friday, 16/12/16, hours away from the Final Vote on Parliamentary Approval of CETA on the last day of the Fall Session 2016 for the House of Commons.
In your e-mail of Tuesday, 13/12/26, you informed me how numerous M.P.s in the House had raised Maritime concerns engendered by CETA Monday ( 12/12/16) and Thursday ( 13/12/16) in Debate and during Question Period.
I apologize for being unaware of this, as on Monday, 12/12/16, where on that day the Final Vote for Approval of CETA was due to be held at 12 pm, I was picketing Parliament from 735 am to 430 pm, whereupon, not knowing what had transpired in the House, I left: Debate, I realized, resumed and concluded at 530 pm.
I apologize also for not knowing what occurred in Debate on Tuesday, 13/12/16, when it resumed at 530 pm, as I was in touch with an Opposition Party.
Since you have been in constant contact with M.P.s during Debate and Question Periods by e-mail, text message and phone, could you tell me why, since the Debate began in November ( 21st,22nd and 23rd) and progressed through December ( 7th, 9th, 12th, 13th…) that the first mention of Maritime Concerns in CETA were only made at 4:40 pm on Wednesday, December 7th by N.D.P. Member Tracey Ramsey of the House Standing Committee on International Trade?
I suppose that such an excellent job has been done representing the concerns of the Members of the S.I.U. of Canada that contact, first made with Mme. Ramsey on Saturday, December 3rd and continuing through December 6th, had nothing to do with, according to my reading of the Hansard of Canada, first mention of Maritime concerns in Parliament? ( An e-mail will follow).
I suggest that the actions of the S.I.U. of Canada, or lack thereof, in seeking to have CETA altered, revised or stopped has, like the silence of the Guild of Canadian Officers and that of the other Maritime Unions, prolonged the ignorance of the Canadian Public and particularly that of Canadian seafarers in general and that of our own Members in particular, just as the government had hoped, and further prevented and delayed any expression of indignation and outrage by both.
It has come to my attention that once CETA comes into effect and foreign ships begin plying their trade in Canada’s coastal Cabotage waters, the S.I.U. will be organizing foreign seafarers who come to replace the Canadian ones. Could you tell me if that will be done by the S.I.U. of Canada or by organizations such as the I.L.O. or I.T.F.?
I also wish to advise you that I have not received any of the Legal Opinions which were at your disposal and which you were kindlyhaving lawyers forward to me.
Though it is now too late for me to avail myself or the Public of the information that might have been contained therein, I would gladly like to examine them for any clue as to what the Maritime Transport Chapter of CETA may hold in store for the Canadian Merchant Marine and those who work in the Canadian Maritime Transport Industry in general.
I would remind you that it is perhaps not too late to jump in a vehicle with a few Brothers and Sisters and get to Parliament Hill before Vote and Approval of CETA, that we may mark the End of the Canadian Merchant Marine together.
Should you think that you’ll arrive more than an hour before the start of Voting and other proceedings, please let me know at 514-404-6008.
Fraternally,
Marc de Villers,
D-1289.
21/12/2016
Brother:Once again thank you for a very detailed email.
I want to start off by commending you on your work against CETA Maritime Provisions. It is not easy putting your name in the spotlight and with that comes great responsibility. Part of that responsibility is to be factual both in the fight itself and in your criticism of others.
Since becoming President of the SIU I have found that sometimes, no matter what you do, how hard you fight, you can¹t please everyone. It is apparent from your emails that this is presently the case. I am very proud of how hard the SIU is fighting to save Cabotage, both within CETA and with the other many challenges it is facing. Our membership has stepped up to the plate with over 55 demonstrations, thousands of letters written to MP¹s and working day in day out to get the message out. Never before have they been so engaged and sportive. I am equally as proud of our Union Executive and Officials who continue to work 16 hours a day for the membership. Meeting with MP¹s over several years, engaging in difficult negotiations with Global Affairs. Putting their necks on the line everyday challenging those who want our destruction. Fighting the good fight year in and year out.
Your criticism is neither accurate, nor fair. Your tweets that the
Maritime Unions were attending a Christmas Party instead of fighting CETA are totally inaccurate and frankly a cheap shot at how hard the SIU and all the Unions in our Coalition are working. That is exactly what those against us like to read. Your words below have little factual content in regards to the SIU actions over the last several years.My hope its that someday you take the time to actually look at what the SIU and other Coalition Unions have tried to achieve, and what we are achieving. Not one of us have given up the fight for Canadian Coasting Trade, in fact we are fighting harder than ever. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Fraternally,
James Given
President
SIU of Canada
19/10/2016
Bonjour Marc,
J’espère que tu te portes bien,
Premièrement, je voulais te remercier pour l’effort d’avoir été présent lors de notre manifestation et de l’implication personnelle que tu démontres.
Il est important que tu saches que le SIU est très actif sur la scène provinciale, nationale et internationale, en fait, peu de syndicats nous ont emboîté le pas dans nos actions. Nous avons écrit au Premier Ministre de la Wallonie, nous avons fait paraitre ( aujourd’hui ou demain ) une page dans un journal belge. Jim et moi sommes en constante communication avec nos alliés européens ( ITF et leurs affiliés ). J’ai communiqué avec M Pierre Marc Johnson, négociateur pour le gouvernement, j’ai aussi rencontré des haut fonctionnaires du gouvernement du Québec. Nous nous sommes rendus à Ottawa à plusieurs reprises dans les derniers mois et sommes présentement de retour à Ottawa pour rencontrer les négociateurs fédéraux qui ont travaillé au texte maritime. Nous avons communiqué avec les médias, qui semblent ne pas en faire une grosse affaire…
Nous avons participé à plusieurs démonstrations. Nous avons invité les autres syndicats nationaux qui ont démontré peu d’entrain, je crois personnellement qu’ils ne comprennent pas l’enjeu…Marc, nous n’avons pas lésiné sur les efforts, nous ne sommes pas en mode défensif, mais plutôt en mode attaque.
Merci encore pour ton implication, l’effort d’en parler aux autres membres SIU et même Guilde aidera la cause. L’implication de chaque Membre est primordiale et l’éducation des travailleurs sur les enjeux est vitale.
Fraternellement
Patrice Caron
Thank you for beginning the forwarding of such Legal Opinions on the matter of CETA as are at your disposal.
Though I will seek their meaning on the effect of the agreement on the Canadian Maritime Shipping Industry and its’ thousands of employees, I fear not being able to read them before CETA is approved in Parliament within the next few hours or days.
The degree of economy in Stewardship of the Unions’ resources in forgoing a presence on Parliament Hill, even as CETA is being passed and the continued existence of, not only our Members jobs, but those of all others working in Canada’s Merchant Marine and Maritime Transport Industry, is in peril, is quite astonishing.
I’m sure the money saved will go a long way in the back offices and halls of Ottawa. I can now better understand what prompted the Union to forbear sending a delegation to Brussels.
I admire your self-restraint in avoiding the limelight: Success in this respect has been such as to rival the degree of Invisibility of the Officers’ Guild and, seemingly, the other Canadian Maritime Unions; no mean feat.
However, should the Canadian Shipping Industry ( and the rest of Canada, in fact, as well as Europe.) survive another day without a Vote on CETA, I think I can assure you, as time and events have shown, that none of the aforementioned will show up on Parliament Hill, either today or in the Future.
I can fairly assure you of at least an appearance of concern and involvement in the outcome of the Struggle over CETAs’ Final Form. The rental of a mini-bus and the presence of a half dozen Brothers and Sisters on the Hill in the coming days ( should Debate extend beyond today, which is very doubtful), would go far to overshadow all other Unions in this tragic drama.
However, should you decide to do so, I would urge you to hurry:
Should Debate go beyond this evening and perhaps into the final 2 days of the Fall Parliamentary Session ( which remain unscheduled and apparently intended for CETAs’ Final passage.), beware the governments’ fondness for a tactic of ” Ambush-Approval”.
This has consisted in announcing Debate on CETA a mere few hours before it begins, on days when it was, till then, unscheduled. They’ve used this twice, last week on Wednesday 7/12/16 and on Friday 9/12/16.
I suppose they are very keen to have CETA dealt with unnoticed (at least until finally passed!) which, under the circumstances, is very understandable.
As far as whether mention of Halifax and Montreal was made within the other Chapters and parts of CETA, I shall leave it to your greater knowledge of the Annexes and Reservations of the Agreement to gladly have you point them out to me at your convenience.
Fraternally,
This week, though the Hansard ( Record of Debates in Parliament.) showed that only normal business would be dealt with on the House Floor, twice ( Wednesday 7/12/16 and Friday 9/12/16) Bill C-30, CETA, came up for Debate in Parliament with only a few hours notice to the Public in Hansards’ Projected Order of Business.
It seems not only that the government wishes to pass Bill C-30, or CETA, hurriedly but to have Parliamentary Debate of it pass without public notice.
Each of the last 3 times CETA has been debated in Parliament ( on Wednesday 23/12/16 and twice this week.) the government has apparently sought to have a vote on it immediately which, with its’ majority and support from the Conservatives, would end with Parliamentary Approval of CETA.
As one can see from Hansards’ Projected order of business below, the government intends to have the Final Vote on CETA Monday 12/12/16 ( tomorrow) between noon and 2pm.
In September 2014 the S.I.U. of Canada and the rest of the Canadian Maritime Supply Chain mobilized to demonstrate on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, shortly after it was made known how CETA might impact Canada’s’ Maritime shipping Industry and its’ thousands of sailors.
The Strategy of ” Silent Diplomacy” seems to have failed to bear fruit and further action may have to be contemplated, though the Clock seems to have run out on us.
Whatever information there may be that would help to inform the Debate on what effect CETA will have on the Canadian Maritime Shipping Industry and its’ sailors, such as the several Legal Opinions which you said you had at your disposal ( at the time of the S.I.U. Fall Quarterly meeting) could prove useful and enlightening, as the government and other sources have not offered anything conclusive.
As I requested a few days ago, I would gratefully accept the opportunity to examine these Legal Opinions or have copies.
Fraternally,
Marc de Villers.
D-1289.
Brother Marc:Upon receipt of your previous email I have instructed our attorneys and Government Relations firms to forward you the drafted legal opinions which you will receive in due course. If you do not please advise me accordingly.
I wish to correct your statement of ³Silent Diplomacy² which is totally
inaccurate. The SIU has been the only voice against the Maritime
provisions of CETA and we continue to be. AS I have stated to you numerous times we have met, and are meeting, with all MP¹s and Senators to raise both awareness and opposition. We are far from silent on this issue!I understand because you don¹t see boots marching in the streets you may feel nothing is being done, but this could not be farther from the truth.CETA and Bill C30 have reached a stage far beyond anything a demonstration will stop. Our resources need to be focused on where we can make a difference, and that is in the back offices and halls of parliament making sure committees and Senators have all the facts and figures and will not go any further than they already have. We have to make sure our Comrades in the EU continue to voice opposition as this is still the best bet to defeat CETA.
The SIU is not to blame for CETA or Bill C30. Conservatives and Liberals who traded off Maritime Jobs for some other aspect of trade are to blame. We walk a fine line everyday with Trade agreements, we are not opposed to ³fair trade², Maritime depends on trade. What we are opposed too is trading away Maritime jobs that are viewed in the halls of Parliament as ³disposable² in the ³big picture² of trade.
We are also fighting TISA, the next big trade deal to take a shot at
Maritime. We are also focused on the Emerson Report which calls for the complete elimination of Cabotage in seven years. We are also fighting the current TFW Program which results in Canadian jobs being lost everyday.Silent? Absolutely not!As an FYI during the membership meeting you stated that CETA does not mention from the Ports of Halifax to Montreal and Montreal to Halifax, this statement was false. I urge you to read the final txt of CETA and also the Reservations and Annexes dealing with Maritime. Bill C 30 does not mention these ports as it is tied to CETA.
In closing let me reassure you the SIU and its allies are doing everything in our power to make sure Cabotage does not disappear from the Canadian landscape.
In Solidarity,
James Given
President SIU Canada
Thank you for the interesting insight into matters during the Fall 2016 Quarterly meeting of the S.I.U. of Canada in Montreal on Monday, 5/12/16 that most Members of the Union aren’t privy to in the normal course of events.
During the course of the meeting, you mentioned that there were a number of Legal Opinions on CETA that you’ve had access to and might prove interesting to some on such an important subject.
Would there be any way that I could see such documents or borrow copies thereof in order to further my understanding of the question? I would greatly appreciate such an opportunity.
Fraternally,
Not knowing whether you were aware of the risk to the Canadian Maritime sector and with the Debate and Vote on Bill C-30 ( C.E.T.A.) shortly approaching, should you or someone else wish to contact me, I can be reached at the E-mail address above or at 514-404-6008.
Sincerely,