Last month Canada ushered in a new political era.
But on his way out, Harper signed us onto the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the biggest trade deal in world history. It may be a new era, but the shadow of Harper's legacy still looms large.
And just this week, Jim Balsillie (former CEO of the company behind BlackBerry) said that
the TPP is the "worst thing the Harper government ever did for Canada".
When even former tech CEOs like Balsillie are lining up against a trade deal, you know it's bad. Here's the thing: the deal isn't finalized yet and
Prime Minister Trudeau can still reject the TPP.
Tell Prime Minister Trudeau to make a clean break with Harper's government and reject the TPP.
Balsillie -- who is also the founder of Canada's Centre for International Governance Innovation -- believes the deal could make Canada a "permanent underclass" when it comes to innovation and intellectual property. "I think in 10 years from now, we'll call that signature the worst thing in policy that Canada's ever done," Balsillie says.
Here's the thing: the TPP is actually that bad. It's so bad that even a CEO like Balsillie can find something to be worried about in the deal. And it doesn't end there. It also spells bad news for environmental protections, workers' rights, human rights, affordable medicine, and the list goes on.
It's great that people like Balsillie are standing up, but it's going to take more than one tech CEO speaking truth to stop this deal. Right now it's incredibly important that we pile on to show the Prime Minister that Canadians elected him to get Harper out of office -- and
we don't want Harper's trade deal either.
Tell Prime Minister Trudeau that he should reject the TPP.
For years, the SumOfUs community in Canada has been fighting against deals like the TPP because they hand massive powers to corporations. Together, thousands of us have taken action. If enough of us show Prime Minister Trudeau that we won't settle for Harper-like priorities, he will have no choice but to scrap the deal.
More information:
Jim Balsillie fears TPP could cost Canada billions and become worst-ever policy move, CBC, 8 November 2015