Statement by Elizabeth May, Green Party of Canada Leader and MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, on the occasion of the passing of the deadline allowing Prime Minister Stephen Harper to ratify the Canada-China Investment Treaty:
“Prime Minister Harper, the countdown is over: you can legally, as of now, ratify the Canada-China Investment Treaty. This is what you wanted from the beginning: enforce the biggest trade deal since NAFTA without any debate in our nation’s Parliament.”
“You can legally do it. Politically, it’s another story. The Green Party of Canada and its partners gave Canadians a chance to speak out. And they did. Our online petition against the deal was signed by 32,000 citizens. Leadnow.ca and Someofus.org had more than 62,000 signatures on their petition. My office received more than 75,000 emails against the treaty. Five thousand Canadians used our website to send their MP letters to alert them of the danger posed by this deal with the Communist government in Beijing.”
“A lot of comments from citizens begin by ‘I don’t normally pay too much attention to politics, but the things that are happening now must be questioned by every Canadian.’ Prime Minister Harper, I think it is clear people say ‘No’ to your way of doing politics.”
“We need to debate this issue in Parliament. We need to include provinces, territories and First Nations. Prime Minister Harper, do not ratify this treaty.”