SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
May, 15 2015, 04:45pm EDT
Contact:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer,E-mail:,dpenner@canadians.org
Canadian MPs Join International Legislators to Oppose "Certification" in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, say it Endangers Country Sovereignty
The debate rages in the United States over President Obama's fast track powers to approve - the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a "free trade" agreement of 12 countries including Canada. Today, in Canada, NDP trade critic Don Davies and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May joined in the debate by joining 40 parliamentarians from the other countries in writing a letter encouraging trade ministers to oppose the United States' certification process.
WASHINGTON
The debate rages in the United States over President Obama's fast track powers to approve - the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a "free trade" agreement of 12 countries including Canada. Today, in Canada, NDP trade critic Don Davies and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May joined in the debate by joining 40 parliamentarians from the other countries in writing a letter encouraging trade ministers to oppose the United States' certification process.
The certification process allows the United States to vet the other countries' sovereign laws ensuring they "conform" with the trade agreement, before the United States obligations would come into effect.
The open letter states, "If applied to the TPP, this practice would infringe on the sovereignty of our governments to determine the meaning and extent of the obligations they have agreed to and adopted under the TPP; it would impugn the constitutional authority and responsibility of legislatures and lawmakers; and it would constitute interference by a foreign government in the sovereignty of our countries."
The letter was sent to International Trade Minister Ed Fast and his counterparts in the other countries. From Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, and New Zealand, the signatories include ministers, prominent former parliamentarians as well as current leaders of political parties, spokespersons for trade, and members of committees with responsibility for the TPP.
"We have been saying since Free Trade 1.0, the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement, that free trade agreements undermine the right of nation state governments to regulate in the interests of their people and the environment ," says Maude Barlow, Chair of the Council of Canadians. "This agreement diminishes the democratic rights of citizens to hold their governments accountable."
According to news reports, for example, Canada is being pressured by the United States to end supply management for farmers. The original Canadian provisions allowed farmers to produce efficiently according to the demand, and to preserve the livelihood of small family farms.
In Peru, the Deputy US Trade Representative "helped" the Peruvian government in 2008 to finalize 35 new laws to better suit the US. As well, two teams of US government lawyers assisted Peru on drafting environmental and business laws. The laws covered data protection for pharmaceuticals, investor arbitration, changes to indigenous land ownership and the education system.
This week, to international surprise, the TPP received a major blow from Obama's own party: Senate democrats temporarily successfully filibustered Obama's Fast Track bill. The bill would have given him executive authority to sign the TPP.
The open letter to International Trade Minister Ed Fast can be found here.
-30-
SIGNATORIES
Australia
- Kelvin Thomson MP, Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, Australian Labor Party
- Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Spokesperson on Trade, Australian Greens
Canada
- Don Davies MP, Critic for International Trade, New Democratic Party
- Elizabeth May MP, Leader, Green Party of Canada
Japan
- Yukio Hatoyama, former Prime Minister of Japan and former Member of the House of Representatives
- Masahiko Yamada, former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and former Member of the House of Representatives
- Megumu Tsuji, former Member of the House of Representatives
- Susumu Saito, former Member of the House of Representatives
- Tomohiko Mizuno, former Member of the House of Representatives
- Hiroshi Kawauchi, former Member of the House of Representatives
- Kazuo Takamatsu, former Member of the House of Representatives
- Tsutomu Takamura, former Member of the House of Representatives
- Seiichiro Dokyu, former Member of the House of Representatives
- Mizuho Fukushima, Member of the House of Councillors, former Minister of State for Special Missions, Social Democratic Party
- Takashi Shinohara, Member of the House of Representatives, former Vice-Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Chairperson of Diet Member's Caucus to Cautiously Consider the TPP, Democratic Party of Japan
- Katsumasa Suzuki, Member of the House of Representatives, former Secretary General of 'People's Life First', Democratic Party of Japan
- Takeshi Maeda, Member of the House of Councillors, former Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Democratic Party of Japan
- Kumiko Aihara, Member of the House of Councillors, Democratic Party of Japan
- Akio Fukuda, Member of the House of Representatives, Democratic Party of Japan
- Takako Suzuki, Member of the House of Representatives, Democratic Party of Japan
- Kaoru Tashiro, Member of the House of Councillors, Democratic Party of Japan
- Toshio Ogawa, Member of the House of Councillors, former Minister of Justice, Democratic Party of Japan
- Teruhiko Mashiko, Member of the House of Councillors, former Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Democratic Party of Japan
- Eri Tokunaga, Member of the House of Councillors, Democratic Party of Japan
- Shizuka Kamei, Member of the House of Representatives, former Minister of Transport, former Minister of Construction, former Minister of State for Special Missions, Independent
- Taro Yamamoto, Member of the House of Councillors, The People's Life Party and Taro Yamamoto and Friends
- Tomoko Kami, Member of the House of Councillors, Japan Communist Party
- Yoshiko Kira, Member of the House of Councillors, Japan Communist Party
Malaysia
- Yang Berhormat Tuan Wong Chen, Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Member of the Malaysian Bipartisan Parliamentary Caucus on TPPA
- Yang Berhormat Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, Parti Sosialis Malaysia, Member of the Malaysian Bipartisan Parliamentary Caucus on TPPA
- Yang Berhormat Puan Nurul Izzah binti Anwar, Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Member of the Malaysian Bipartisan Parliamentary Caucus on TPPA
- Yang Berhormat Senator Tuan Syed Shahir bin Syed Mohamud, Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Member of the Malaysian Bipartisan Parliamentary Caucus on TPPA.
New Zealand
- Hon Margaret Wilson, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and Attorney General, New Zealand Labour Party
- Andrew Little, Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party
- Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First, former Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Hon Te Ururoa Flavell, Co-Leader of the Maori Party
- Marama Fox MP, Co-Leader of the Maori Party
- Russel Norman, Co-Leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa
- Metiria Turei, Co-Leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa
- Jeanette Fitzsimons, former Co-Leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa
Founded in 1985, the Council of Canadians is Canada's leading social action organization, mobilizing a network of 60 chapters across the country.
Office: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249LATEST NEWS
Markey Applauded for Proposal to Make Wealthiest Americans Pay Investment Tax
One advocate called the bill an "important step forward in reducing historic, extreme, and democracy-destabilizing levels of economic inequality in America."
Mar 17, 2026
In a move cheered by economic justice advocates, US Sen. Ed Markey on Tuesday introduced the Senate version of the bicameral Equal Tax Act, a bill that would "create equal tax rates for all forms of income for individuals with incomes over $1 million."
"The wealthiest individuals in our society use loopholes and tax dodging schemes to avoid paying their fair share," Markey (D-Mass.) said in an introduction to the bill. "They get away with it because our tax code rewards wealth over work—giving breaks to those that trade stocks over those that punch clocks."
The legislation—which was first introduced in the House of Representatives last year by Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.)—seeks to make the tax code more fair by making billionaires and multimillionaires pay income tax on passive investments, as if they earned their money through labor, by raising the top marginal rate from the current 20% to 37%.
Right now, billionaires can pay less in taxes on their stock trades than teachers or nurses that educate our children and care for us in emergencies. My Equal Tax Act would stop rewarding wealth more than work by making the ultra-wealthy pay taxes like millions of working people.
[image or embed]
— Senator Ed Markey (@markey.senate.gov) March 17, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Specifically, the Equal Tax Act would:
- Limit the lower preferential tax rate for long-term capital gains and dividends to incomes under $1 million;
- End the stepped-up basis loophole and disrupt the “buy, borrow, die” strategy used by the wealthy to avoid taxation by treating capital gains as realized at the time of gift or death, with exclusion allowances of up to $1 million in gains;
- Enact a lifetime limit of $1 million on the use of like-kind exchanges on real estate gains; and
- Limit the pass-through deduction to incomes under $1 million.
Markey's office said Tuesday that, if passed, the Equal Tax Act would raise an estimated $300 billion in revenue over 10 years.
"Teachers, nurses, and millions of working people are the ones who keep our country running, but our tax code rewards wealth over work,” said Markey. “The Equal Tax Act brings fairness to our tax code by requiring millionaires and billionaires to pay taxes on investment income the same way working people pay taxes on income from their labor."
Ramirez noted how plutocrats like President Donald Trump and tech titans Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg "have extorted tax benefits from the American people."
"For far too long, they have exploited an unfair tax system that makes the rich richer at the expense of working families," the congresswoman added. "It is time we ensure that the ultrawealthy pay their fair share. I am excited to work with Sen. Markey in the bicameral introduction of the Equal Tax Act to build a fairer tax system that ensures working families have everything they need to thrive."
Morris Pearl, chair of the fair taxation advocacy group Patriotic Millionaires, said in a statement, “For decades, we have been playing a game of economic Jenga where we pull from the bottom and the middle, load it all on top, and then wonder why the whole thing is about to fall down."
"We end up with an unfair system that allows for oligarchic wealth to concentrate in the hands of a few individuals," Pearl continued. "That’s because right now in America, our tax code makes people who have jobs and work for a living pay far higher tax rates than people who make money from investments or inheritances."
"The money that investors like me make passively from our wealth should not be taxed any less than the money millions of Americans make through their sweat," he asserted. "By closing major loopholes, the Equal Tax Act would ensure that the ultrarich pay income taxes just like all Americans who work for a living and have taxes deducted from their paychecks every week."
"The Patriotic Millionaires are thrilled to see Sen. Markey take this important step forward in reducing historic, extreme, and democracy-destabilizing levels of economic inequality in America," Pearl added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
CBS News Streaming Workers Walk Out After Collapse of Contract Talks Under Bari Weiss
"Management refuses to agree to a new contract with essential work protections and fair wages," said the workers' negotiating team.
Mar 17, 2026
Unionized workers with CBS News' streaming channel began a bicoastal one-day walkout Tuesday morning after unsuccessful negotiations for a "fair and just" contract under Bari Weiss, who has faced intense criticism on a range of topics since taking over as editor-in-chief.
CBS News is part of the media behemoth Paramount Skydance, which was formed in a controversial merger last August. Two months later, the company acquired Weiss' The Free Press, and CEO David Ellison appointed her to also lead all of CBS News, despite her lack of television experience.
The latest contract for the streaming channel, CBS News 24/7, expired last week, after which the workers delivered a strike pledge. Tuesday's 24-hour walkout—with rallies at CBS News Broadcast Center in New York City and at KPIX-TV CBS News Bay Area in San Francisco, California—kicked off at 6:00 am Eastern time.
"CBS News 24/7 journalists are walking off the job on both coasts today because management refuses to agree to a new contract with essential work protections and fair wages," the bargaining committee and contract action team said in a statement from Writers Guild of America East (WGAE).
"Despite multiple days of good-faith negotiations and a strike pledge signed by 95% of our members to emphasize the seriousness of our demands, management continues to offer us worse terms than in our last contracts," the team said. "We chose this field to cover the news, but we believe this work stoppage is necessary to achieve a fair contract. We eagerly await an acceptable contract offer from Paramount—which just shelled out tens of billions of dollars to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery."
Deadline explained that "the newsroom has undergone rounds of layoffs and buyouts, and more are expected. There also are fears of further downsizing when Paramount completes its deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, given that will leave the company with two global news outlets, CBS News and CNN."
Beth Godvik, WGAE vice president of broadcast/cable/streaming news, called out Paramount for striking a $110 billion deal with Warner Bros. Discovery while it "still hasn't guaranteed fair wages and basic job protections for the workers who make their streaming news operation run."
"Our members are walking out today to show management they stand united in their demand for a fair contract—and the WGAE is with them every step of the way," said Godvik.
As The Wrap noted:
The battle puts Weiss, an opinion journalist who had no TV news experience before she became CBS News' editor-in-chief last October, in the position of negotiating with a union under her purview for the first time. The union dispute comes as the network has already been rocked by star departures and scrutiny over its coverage.
The Free Press, the anti-woke outlet Weiss cofounded and still leads, is not unionized, while CBS News has four main bargaining units, including the Writers Guild of America-backed CBS News 24/7, which launched in 2014 and rebroadcasts CBS News shows like "60 Minutes" and "CBS Mornings" along with original shows like "The Takeout with Major Garrett."
A CBS News spokesperson told The Guardian that "we continue to negotiate in good faith and hope to reach a fair resolution quickly."
Meanwhile, multiple members of Congress expressed support for the work stoppage on social media.
"If Paramount can shell out billions of dollars to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, then they can pay their unionized CBS staff a fair wage," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). "I stand with the CBS staff who walked out today as they fight these corporate giants for essential protections and fair contracts."
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) declared that "American workers deserve fair pay and basic protections—full stop. I stand with the 60 CBS News 24/7 journalists walking off the job today in New York and San Francisco. Paramount is finalizing a $110 BILLION deal but can't give its own workers a fair contract?"
Keep ReadingShow Less
AI-Powered Robot Dogs Guarding Reviled Data Centers Is Where We Have Arrived
These robots, known as "quadrupeds," are being used to patrol the sprawling energy-sucking complexes, which are increasingly being met with protest around the country.
Mar 17, 2026
As Americans grow fed up with the rapid encroachment of artificial intelligence data centers into their communities, tech companies are embracing a novel solution to protect their energy-sucking behemoths from danger: Even more robots... robot dogs, to be exact.
According to a report from Business Insider on Monday:
As companies pour billions into sprawling industrial campuses for cloud and AI computing, some data center operators are experimenting with four-legged bots—about the size of large dogs—that can patrol fences, inspect equipment, and flag any issues before they turn into costly outages.
These robots, known as "quadrupeds," are being used to patrol the complexes, which can sometimes reach the size of multiple football fields.
According to Fortune, tech companies are already pouring nearly $700 billion into building data centers across the US and are now spending hundreds of thousands of dollars more to enlist mechanical canines as security forces.
One model from Boston Dynamics, known as "Spot," can cost anywhere from $175,000 to $300,000. And while the technology may seem futuristic, Spot and other quadrupeds like it have already been enlisted in law enforcement and public safety for years.
Another company—Ghost Robotics—advertises its quadrupeds for "reconnaissance, intelligence, and surveillance use by the military."
With more than 5,000 data centers now in the US and 800-1,000 new ones in the process of being built, Michael Subhan, the chief growth officer for Ghost Robotics, told Business Insider he expects boom times are ahead for his industry.
As data centers expand their reach at breakneck speed, there may be more interlopers for the programmable pooches to sniff out.
Due to skyrocketing energy costs and water shortages in places where large data centers have been built, the sites of proposed projects from Illinois to Minnesota to South Carolina have drawn crowds of dozens and even hundreds of demonstrators in recent weeks.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular