GC37 Impact of Trade Agreements (2000I552)

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 37th General Council

1. commit The United Church of Canada, through its ongoing work with coalitions, support advocacy urging the Government of Canada to include the following principles drawn from “Alternatives for the Americas” in all trade negotiations:

   1. Democracy and participation: Citizens should actively participate in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of any trade agreements.

   2. Sovereignty and social welfare: Individual countries should maintain the power to take care of their citizens in the short and long term.

   3. Reduce inequalities: All agreements should contain measures to reduce inequalities within and among nations, between men and women, and among races.

   4. Sustainability: Trade agreements should give priority to the quality of development, which implies establishing social and environmental limits to growth; and

2. support and encourage ecumenical global justice work to evaluate the impact of the “Uruguay Round” of trade negotiations on low income countries and to continue to monitor developments within the World Trade Organisation.

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* In April 1998, more than 1000 people from different sectors and organisations throughout the Americas rejected "free" trade, deregulation and privatisation. A short booklet called Alternatives for the Americas: Building a Peoples' Hemisphere Agreement came out of the meetings and is available at www.web.net/comfront.

GC37 2000 ROP, pp. 855-856