Activists gathered in Ottawa challenged the Trudeau government’s sunny view of trade deals at a protest calling for the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement to be scrapped. The Liberal government is also facing pressure about escalating human rights violations in Mexico.
Groups from Canada, Quebec, the United States and Mexico brought a Trojan horse to Ottawa’s human rights monument, symbolizing the threats the TPP poses to the environment, public health, labour rights and human rights. Speakers highlighted the damage NAFTA has caused across the continent, and called on Canada to not ratify the TPP.
The protest marks the second day of coordinated actions challenging the Three Amigos summit being held in Ottawa.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also under pressure to urge Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to end attacks on teachers in Mexico. Trudeau has received more than 400 letters, including from CUPE National President Mark Hancock, calling for action to end a wave of state repression and violence.
In the last two months teachers and their supporters have been abducted, fired, jailed and shot for opposing privatization, and for resisting changes to teacher training and evaluation. The regressive measures, which include shutting down teacher training schools and basing employment on standardized test results, have not been negotiated with the teachers’ representatives, the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers.
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