One Year Later- Where's the Leadership? Groups Urge Minister Martin to "Walk the Talk" on Parliamentary Motion on the Tobin Tax
March 23, 2000 - Today non-governmental organizations join Parliamentarians in calling for Finance Minister Martin to "walk the talk" on a motion to tax financial speculators.
PUBLICATION The Ottawa Citizen
DATE Sun 19 Mar 2000
EDITION FINAL
SECTION/CATEGORY News
Agency under fire over dam
PAUL KNOX
The Globe and Mail, November 16, 1999
The photos look idyllic -- a broad river, forested shorelines, thatch-roofed houses here and there along the bank.
Kimy Pernia Domico, an Embera- Katio Indian from northwestern Colombia, lived in one of the houses. He used to fish, until the fish stopped running. He still plants corn, rice, plantains and manioc.
October 8, 1999
Hon. Pierre Pettigrew
Minister for International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G2
By FAX: 996-8924
Eight pages including this page
Dear Minister Pettigrew,
This letter contains the formal response of the Working Group on the EDC to the Report on the Review of the Export Development Act, conducted by the firm Gowling, Strathy & Henderson.
The Working Group on the EDC is a coalition of Canadian non-governmental organizations concerned about the human and environmental impact of export financing agencies. The Working Group, which is a project of the Halifax Initiative, promotes adherence by export credit agencies, particularly the Export Development Corporation, to internationally accepted standards regarding human rights, environment and sustainable development.
Here's a brief summary of events since our last update :
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT - MOTION? WHAT MOTION?
The federal government has made no formal effort to act on the endorsement given to it by Canadians and is, in fact, actively downplaying the Tobin tax motion. Although Finance Minister Paul Martin assured Halifax Initiative representatives, at a meeting in Washington in April, that he had raised the Tobin tax informally with Finance Ministers, actions in Canada and abroad reveals a failure of commitment and a betrayal of the democratic process.
Congratulations to everyone who made the historic passage of the Tobin tax motion possible!
Government action on debts of poorest countries a progressive move
says Halifax Initiative Coalition, and backs Canada to take a stronger position at the World Bank, IMF.
For immediate release 28 March, 1999
Ottawa -- Today's announcement that Canada will cancel 100% of debts owed by the poorest countries in the world is welcomed by the Halifax Initiative, a national coalition of environment, development, social justice and faith groups.
ONE YEAR LATER - What has Canada done about the Tobin Tax Motion? NOT MUCH! Write your MP, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister before March 23.
On March 23, 1999, an exuberant Parliament passed a motion to "enact a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international community" with all party support by a resounding 164-83 margin. The motion was a strong message from Parliament that the political must regain control of the financial in the interests of the world's common wealth.
One year later, we have little progress to report. While the Canadian motion has sparked debate in Parliaments around the world, there has been little action at home. There have been no public hearings, no follow-up studies, no meetings of experts, in short, no substantive action to move the agenda forward either domestically or internationally.
Dear
On March 23rd, 1999, the Canadian Parliament demonstrated world leadership when it passed motion M-239 urging Canada to "enact a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international community." This unprecedented action was viewed by many as an important first step in controlling destabilising speculation on financial markets, the wild and anarchic behaviour of which threatens all the economies of the world.
HOUSE OF COMMONS VOTE RESULTS - MARCH 23, 1999
MOTION M-239
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should enact a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international community.
YEAS
