Via mail and email

Mr. Michael Ignatieff
Leader of the Liberal Party
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON  K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Ignatieff:

On behalf of the 56,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, I am urging you in the strongest possible terms not to support Bill C-23, the legislation implementing the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

In the past year, 27 trade unionists and over 77 Aboriginal leaders have been murdered.  Signing a free trade agreement with Colombia legitimizes these killings, and greatly devalues their lives.

There is an increased degree of impunity in Colombia for individuals and organizations who have carried out these egregious actions.

There have been recent reports about the activities of Colombia’s domestic intelligence agency, the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), which answers directly to the president’s office.  This organization has conducted surveillance on international delegations to Colombia, members of the Colombian Supreme Court and organizations such as the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective.  The Liberal Party should not support the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in light of these recent revelations.

On May 25, 2009, Liberal M.P. for Kings—Hants, the Honourable Scott Brison, stated in the House of Commons: “We believe that a full independent human rights assessment, as recommended by the committee, should be provided by the government to Parliament before we vote again on Bill C-23.”  It is extremely surprising that the Liberal members of Parliament seem to be backing away from that position.                                                                                                        

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is urging you not to vote for Bill C-23.  Instead we are asking you to call for a full independent human rights impact assessment before ratifying Bill C-23.

Yours truly,

Denis Lemelin
National President

cc

National Executive Committee
National Regional Committee
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