Next Election,your vote may be irrelevant... 

         (The new Multilateral Agreement on Investment* gives the corporations so much power,
                                                              Parliament won't matter)

  It cripples Canada's ability to create jobs 
  It paves the way for a two-tiered health system 
  It guts our ability to protect our environment 

     Did you know that while you and other Canadians are immersed in the federal election, the Liberal government is quietly negotiating an agreement that will give transnational corporations their own charter of rights and freedoms?
   It's called the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and as you read this it's being negotiated in Paris by 29 nations -- with the United States and our own Liberal government playing a lead role.

   The MAI will extend NAFTA to establish a new set of investment rules that grant corporations the right to buy, sell, and move their operations whenever and wherever they want around the world -- without government regulation.

   American officials have said its prime objective is to "protect U.S. investors abroad."

   Almost nobody is talking about it, yet its implications for citizens like yourself are chilling:

   MAI would free corporations of any obligations to you, other Canadian workers and consumers, or the environment.

   MAI would remove regulations requiring foreign companies operating in Canada to hire Canadians.

   MAI would remove Canada's ability to place restrictions on foreign investment.

   MAI would dramatically weaken Canada's ability to create jobs.

      MAI would, in effect, give corporations the right to pollute - they could sue if Canadian environmental laws hurt their business.
   MAI would prevent countries from imposing economic sanctions like those used to end Apartheid in South Africa.

   MAI would threaten our public health care, setting the stage for a two-tiered system.

   MAI would leave Canada's culture at the mercy of U.S. entertainment mega-corporations. 

   MAI has been negotiated with virtually no public discussion or debate.

   MAI hurts you, your family and Canada. And once we sign it, we're virtually locked-in for a period of 20 years.

*MAI: It's a Charter of Rights and Freedoms for the Corporations.
 

*********
Get the facts on MAI, then ask your candidate and party what they're doing
to stop it.  To get the full text of the MAI and an analysis of its impact visit our web site at www.web.net/coc or phone toll-free 1-800-387-7177.

This message is brought to you by: Canadian Conference of the Arts and the 90,000 members of the Council of Canadians. 

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