“Why is it ridiculous to ask that human rights be respected in order to do free trade with Colombia?” asked award-winning Colombian journalist Hollman Morris while being interviewed on national public radio in Canada a couple of weeks ago. Morris was reflecting on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s comments made in Bogotá this past July where he announced the launch of three-way free trade negotiations with Colombia and Peru.

During a press conference with President Alvaro Uribe, Harper said that Canada is prepared to negotiate with Colombia despite being facing the worst humanitarian disaster in the hemisphere according to the UN. Alluding to US Democrats currently blocking approval of the US-Colombia free trade agreement, he stated, “We are not going to say, 'Fix all your social, political and human-rights problems and only then will we engage in trade relations with you.'” His negotiating team has proved its determination to sign a deal and may have wrapped up fast track talks in Lima this week. The negotiations between Colombia and the US took 21 months.

“Prime Minister Harper’s statement is quite offensive,” said Morris, pointing out that “Colombia is the country in which trade unionists are the most endangered in the world [and] in the last couple of years there has been a phenomenon of the dismantlement of trade unions. I’m wondering, is it ridiculous to protect them?” In 2006, there were 72 reported killings of trade unionists. Over the course of the Uribe administration, four hundred union officers and rank-and-file members have been murdered and of these crimes there have been only seven convictions, says a statement released this month by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

Morris added that Uribe also continues attacks on the press. He says that he has recently “delegitimized journalists [such that] a number have left the country within the last month.” Morris himself has previously been accused by Uribe of having ties to left-wing guerrillas, comments later revoked, but which still put Morris’ life in jeopardy.

Harper’s comments are a strong endorsement for Uribe at a time when his administration faces a grave crisis of legitimacy. The “para-politics scandal” has shaken even his key alliance with the US as a substantial block of US Congress holds up approval of the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Forty congress people, including senators, governors and mayors representing the President’s political coalition, are under investigation for alleged relationships with paramilitary chiefs and collusion in elections fraud. Seventeen are already in jail including the former head of secret services under Uribe. As well, marked failures in Uribe’s paramilitary demobilization program have been demonstrated as paramilitaries are observed to be reorganizing, also sustaining their political influence following recent local elections.

Considering what might be motivating the Canadian Government’s lack of concern for the deep rooted corruption, human rights abuses and impunity in Colombia, Morris proposed, “I think what Canada is trying to do is to put pressure on the democrats in the US to support the FTA with Colombia, which fortunately won’t be signed during the Bush administration and we are very happy for this.”

In fact, the Harper Index reported last week that President Bush has indeed been taking advantage of Harper’s policy toward Colombia. Speaking with the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce in October, the Harper Index quotes Bush as having stated, “As Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada said, if the United States turns its back on its friends in Colombia, this will set back our cause far more than any Latin American dictator could hope to achieve. By its bold actions, Colombia has proved itself worthy of America's support – and I urge Congress to pass this vital agreement as soon as possible.”

As to why Harper can get away with such offensive statements despite Canada’s image of itself as a human rights champion, Manuel Rozental says a key reason is that the Canadian public hasn’t really responded. Rozental is currently on a CLC-sponsored, cross-country tour to speak about the trade negotiations, including why they should stop and why a full debate should take place in the Canadian Parliament. In July he commented that “Harper wouldn’t even dare to behave the way that he’s behaving and go to [visit] this regime if there was any political reaction from the majority of Canadian people, but there isn’t.”

Harper’s trip to Bogotá sparked minimal critique within the Canadian press and failed to trigger any response in the streets. However, this isn’t an indicator that Canadians don’t mobilize. When the crisis in Burma erupted, the Canadian public was infuriated. Canadian media coverage of the situation was extensive and numerous protests took place.

However, resistance to Canada’s overdrive free trade talks with Colombia and Peru is evident with several labour and human rights organizations releasing statements opposed to a Canada-Colombia FTA this month. The CLC, in addition to their statement, planned a march in Toronto this week and called for public support of delegates participating in labour conventions across the country at which they will “consider this issue and demand an end to trade negotiations” saying that such an agreement is “a big mistake.” They reject that such negotiations could be remedied by “ineffective labour and environmental side agreements with no teeth on rights or standards will do nothing to improve the situation.”

In defiance of Canadian labour demands, and despite the general secrecy that usually surrounds bilateral free trade negotiations, it appears that the current Canadian negotiating team has been taking special efforts this time to ensure that labour organizations have no say in the process. Rick Arnold, Coordinator of Common Frontiers Canada, reported this month that “A Colombian trade negotiator recently let slip that the Canadian government told Colombian negotiators to keep the draft labour text secret, well away from Canadian unions and non-governmental organizations.”

The Harper Index adds, “To inoculate itself against criticism, earlier this month Federal Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn announced $1 million being given to Colombia under the International Program for Professional Labour Administration (IPPLA).” The Index reports the Minister as having said that “This funding will help the Colombian Government to strengthen and enforce labour laws on behalf of workers here, and will support good governance by building capacity for the effective administration of labour legislation.”

However, a joint statement released in July by the CLC and a national Colombian labour organization, the CUT, says that addressing the potential threats of a free trade agreement to workers needs to start before any negotiations take place. They call for a thorough and prior assessment of risks to workers noting in particular the great asymmetry between the Colombian and Canadian economies. They outline additional concrete measures that would help address the systematic dismantlement of Colombian labour. During 2006, just over 60,000 workers, of an economically active population of twenty million, were able to benefit from collective bargaining.

RECALCA, the Colombian Action Network Against Free Trade and the FTAA, also points out Colombia’s negative trade balance with Canada of $225 million dollars in 2006 and say that this agreement is likely to reinforce Colombia’s orientation as a producer of tropical and mineral products in exchange for manufactured goods and machinery. They note that the themes being addressed by these trade negotiations are the same as those covered by US-Colombia talks and conclude that an FTA with Canada would “lock Colombia into free trade, paralyzing the state’s capacity to promote development, leading to abandonment basic food staple production in the country, and leaving aside industrialization while integrating Colombia into the global economy through over-exploitation of cheap labour.” Rural livelihoods are already seriously compromised in Colombia with internal displacement at around 3.8 million.

However, much remains to be seen from the Canadian public. If the CLC campaign catches on, their demands for real change in the situation in Colombia also implicate serious changes to the current Canadian model: “An international business deal with Colombia or any other country,” they say should “foster “fair-trade”, and not only benefit international investors while worsening widespread conditions of poverty and social exclusion.” The Harper government in its rush to close this free trade deal with its big promises for Canadian transnational corporations is not about to do this on its own. A serious and vigorous public debate in Canada is urgently required.