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November 9, 2000
Canadian Action Party Fields 70 Candidates
Ready to Raise Issue of Canadian Sovereignty
Time for a Campaign Reality Check, Says Leader

Toronto, ON -- "I am pleased to announce that the Canadian Action Party has 70 proud
Canadians running in this federal election who are eager to raise the issue of Canada’s
future independence whenever they have an opportunity," said the Hon. Paul Hellyer, leader
of the Canadian Action Party today.

"After an irrelevant and often petty debate among the five major parties, CAP is ready to
inject a kind of "reality check" into this campaign," Mr. Hellyer said.

"For one reason or another, candidates from the other parties won’t talk about the fact that
Canada is heading toward a crisis and we will soon become the 51st U.S. State if Canadians
don’t wake up -- but our candidates will!"

Mr. Hellyer noted that CAP candidates come from a variety of backgrounds -- law, teaching,
medicine, farming, aboriginal activisim and more -- with a wealth of expertise.

"Each one of our candidates has witnessed the weakening of Canadian values and the
dismantling of the country through his or her own experience -- and they can’t wait to fight
back to save the country!"

The CAP leader also pointed out that everything possible was being done to improve media
coverage of the party’s platform so that CAP candidates’ voices can be heard.

"It’s a tragedy," said Mr. Hellyer. "Whenever Canadians discover CAP and its platform, they
are relieved that at least one political party is expressing their concerns about Canada’s
future. Democracy isn’t being served if the media continue to ignore us."

Mr. Hellyer concluded by pointing out that 1999 was a record year for non-resident
purchases of Canadian businesses and resources, doubling the previous record set in 1998.
At the same time, there are several law suits by U.S. corporations pending under Chapter
11 of NAFTA that could cost Canadian taxpayers billions of dollars in fines and legal fees.

"The speed of the tragic sell-out of Canada is accelerating, and that is why this election is
so crucial," he concluded. "We won’t have another chance to reverse this disastrous course."

To access our list of candidates, please go to the following URL:

http://www.canadianactionparty.ca/MainPages/Ridings.asp?Language=English

For more information, contact:

Paul Hellyer -- (416) 535-4144 or toll-free 1-877-629-0841

Email: info@canadianactionparty.ca

MEDIA ADVISORY
The office of the Hon. Paul Hellyer, a former Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, announces a special Press Conference.
Time:              11:00 am, November 10, 2000
Location:        CAP Ottawa Media Headquarters
                        503 Rideau St., Ottawa

Mr. Hellyer, leader of the Canadian Action Party, will discuss why he thinks this is one of the most important elections in the country's history.
He will also outline the party's policy objectives, and introduce the CAP candidates for the National Capital Region.

As well, he will give his analysis of the French and English leaders' debates being held this week.
Please RSVP to:

Tel: (613) 599-5344, or  (613) 565-2300,
Toll-free tel: 1-888-377-2222
e-mail: agoracosmopolite@on.aibn.com.

Canadian Action Party / parti action Canadienne
Website:  www.canadianactionparty.ca

Ottawa Media Coordinator
Raymond Samuels
Candidate, Ottawa-Vanier
Tel: (613) 565-2300/Fax: (613) 599-4739
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For Immediate Release November 2, 2000
CAP Federal Campaign Slogan Warns Voters:
"Oh Canada" or No Canada? The Choice Is Yours!
 Sovereignty Top Election Issue, Says Leader

Toronto, ON -- The Hon. Paul Hellyer, leader of the Canadian Action Party (CAP), launched
his party’s federal election campaign at a press conference this morning with strong words
of warning for Canadian voters.

"Although there are many issues in this election, including the timing of the call, there is
one issue that towers above all the others -- the fact that Canadians are losing their
country," the former deputy-prime minister told journalists. "That is why this is probably
the most important election since 1867. The future of the country is clearly at stake."

The CAP leader introduced the party’s campaign slogan, "Oh Canada" or No Canada? It’s
Your Choice, adding that, so far, the debates among the mainstream parties over Medicare
and Canadian values have been nothing less than hypocritical.

"We have seen political leaders -- especially Chretien and Day -- tripping over themselves,
insisting they care about Canada while at the same time supporting policies, including
NAFTA, that are ruining the country," Mr. Hellyer noted. "Our goal over the next few weeks
is to show Canadians just what is happening to the country they love."

Mr. Hellyer explained that Canadians have been led to believe that the Canada/U.S. Free
Trade Agreement (FTA) and NAFTA were designed to improve trade for Canada -- but they
were actually designed to allow U.S. corporations free rein in this country in every sector
from forestry to energy to health care. As well, since the FTA, 10,000 Canadian companies
have been bought by U.S. interests.

"Our party is unique in this election, because we are the only one warning voters of the
dangers we face, and calling for the end of the FTA, NAFTA and all other international
agreements that compromise our sovereignty," Mr. Hellyer pointed out. "We will then
replace the status quo with fair trade agreements, and allow only foreign investment that is
good for Canadians -- and prevents rather than causes a brain drain."

Mr. Hellyer said CAP wants to protect and re-fund the environment, Canadian culture,
Medicare and public education, as well as require banks to help Canadian entrepreneurs
instead of foreign corporations.

"In short, we don’t want to become the 51st U.S. state, and we are the only party with the
policies to stop this from happening!" the Canadian Action Party head stated. He called on
the Canadian electorate to vote strategically in order to prevent a majority government of
either the pro-corporate Liberals or Canadian Alliance.

"The only way we can slow down the steady march toward annexation or its equivalent is to
put a minority government in power, and deny either Chretien or Day the opportunity to
continue the sell-out of our country," Mr. Hellyer concluded.

For more information, please contact:

Paul Hellyer -- (416) 535-4144 or toll free 1-877-629-0841

Email: info@canadianactionparty.ca                  Web: www.canadianactionparty.ca
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Partisan letter from Connie Fogal -  Sat, 28 Oct 2000
http://www.conniefogal.com/newinfo/
http://www.conniefogal.com
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Connie Fogal's Analysis of the Alliance Party Tax Platform.
This analysis was originally prepared as an analysis of the tax component of the Alliance Party platform A Time for Change for the Brown Bagger radio show on CFRO.  It was subsequently used to conduct a Canadian Action Party seminar on some of the tax issues that are being discussed in the context of the imminent federal election.
Brian Bacon
October 15, 2000
W: 822-0919
H: 255-3797

1. GENERAL ASSESSMENT
* The Alliance proposal is a glib well-produced American style document aimed at seducing the media.
* It does not deal with the most pressing issues facing Canada.
* NAFTA
* The reform of our banking and financial system
* The document attempts to temper Mr. Day's extreme right-wing rhetoric avoiding contentious social issues while pledging to "support" health care education etc.
* It speaks incessantly of Mr. Day's leadership.  Reading the plan you would think it was all his idea.
* Of course the media buys into this hype.  Lawrence Martin writes that although "Day had made past statements that made him sound as though he wanted to turn 80 percent of the government's money and power over to the provinces...that's the old Day and this is the new Day".  He also notes admiringly that Day uses no notes when he makes a speech and how this "terrifies" his opponents.  That says more about his opponents than about him1.
* That was Ronald Reagan's claim to fame.  Image over substance.
2. ALLIANCE PLEDGES
* The Alliance platform "An Agenda of Respect for All Canadians" (p2) is centred on a regime of tax cuts and elimination of public services.
* They claim that their plan "reflects the values and concerns of people across the country and that their priorities are "your (Canadians') priorities".
* They pledge to "cut taxes for all Canadians, especially for lower and middle income families".
* They pledge to "provide stable long-term funding for health care and ensure modern health care services are available to all Canadians regardless of their financial situation".  This does not jive with Alliance plans to eliminate the federal government's ability to penalize provinces for violations of the CHA now scrapped.
* They pledge to "implement a concrete, legally binding plan to pay down the national debt".  This will further constrain the government's ability to adequately fund programs when the economy turns down.
* They point to anecdotal evidence of questionable government spending and use this as an excuse for a wholesale elimination of government services and departments.
* It is an "anti-government" program.
* They pledge to:
* End corporate welfare.
* Terminate regional development programs.
* Penalize repeat users of EI.  At the same time as regional development is being cut this will mean hardship for many Canadians in economically depressed parts of the country.
* Sell off crown corporations such as Petrocan (18% federally owned) and privatize the CBC.
- This flies in the face of Mr. Day's pledge to end corporate welfare as the sale of Petrocan is a favour to his friends in the oil-patch that fund his party.
- Petrocan has consistently generated income and positive cash flow for the federal treasury.  His pledge to privatize it is ideological and not in the best interest of Canadians.  I'm glad he's not my broker.
- This is especially irresponsible given the current spike in energy prices.
3. VALUES AND CONCERNS OF ALL CANADIANS
* In spite of the apparent attempt to mitigate the Party's extreme right-wing image, the Alliance policy platform is still out of tune with the concerns of most Canadians
* This is most clearly seen in that tax cuts are the central plank in their platform.
* A Pollara Research poll done for the MoF in August indicated that "48% of Canadians want increased spending on health care versus only 23% for tax cuts"2.
* This echoes other recent polls.
- An EKOS poll conducted for the federal government in the Spring of 2000 ranked tax cuts as Canadians' 7th priority after health care, education children's issues, environment, crime and unemployment.
- Also, the EKOS "Rethinking Government" study of August 2000 indicated that 88% of Canadians wanted the federal government to increase or maintain involvement in our society across all priorities3.
- The same poll indicated that 53% of Canadians believed government's immediate priorities should be focussed on increasing health care, education and other social programs, 27% wanted reduced debt and 19% wanted tax cuts4.
- It also indicated that only 14% of Canadians wanted to see the country become "more like the US" and a majority preferred a strengthened commitment to public institutions and undertaking national projects on issues of concern5.
4. THE NUMBERS6
* The centrepiece of the Alliance tax plan is to cut $66B from federal government revenues over the next five years7.  This is on top of the $58B planned by the Liberals.
* This is clearly a third world tax plan and it is clear that the lion's share of the benefits will go to a small wealthy minority of taxpayers.
* Further the budget surplus driving this regressive platform has largely been funded by low and middle-income taxpayers through increases in EI premiums and tightened conditions for eligibility.
* EI premiums as a percent of total federal government revenue have doubled since 1975 to almost 14%.8
* In addition to the incidence of these cuts we must consider their potential effect on government's ability to meet its commitment to fund essential programs.
* John McCallum chief economist for the Royal Bank said "there's a disconnect, unless you're talking about reducing the size of the government by 20%"9.
* A 20% reduction in the federal government translates to cut-backs in funding for health care, education and the other programs that Canadians have clearly stated are priorities.
* Personal Income Tax
* The current three-rate personal income tax system will be revised immediately to a two-rate system  - 17% on taxable income up to $100,000 and 25% on income over $100,00010
* The 25% rate will be eliminated at some unspecified point resulting in "a single 17% rate for everyone"11.
* Who Benefits?
* Changes in tax rates
* The first step in the Alliance tax plan will be to lower the top marginal rate from 29% to 25% and to raise the cutoff from $59,180 to $100,000.
* Revenue Canada statistics for 1997, the last year for which statistics are published, indicate that less than 8% of the 21.1 million Canadian tax filers of that year earned enough to pay federal tax at the 29% rate.
* 67% of filers did not earn enough to move beyond the 17% rate bracket and will therefor see no benefit from the increased threshold.
* The 25% of taxpayers with TI between $29,590 and $59,180 will see their federal tax fall by an average of about $900 per year.
* The 0.31% of taxpayers with income in excess of $250,000 will save an average of $23,600 each and a taxpayer with $1M TI would save over $43,500 more than double the median taxable income.
* Capital Gains
* All of the corporate owned parties - The Alliance, Liberals and Progressive Conservatives all plan a 1/3 reduction in the Capital Gains inclusion rate from 3/4 to 1/2.  Again it is of disproportionate benefit to the wealthiest Canadians.
* Capital Gains formed 1.2% of total income for Canadians with less than $150,000 in TI and 11.9% for those with TI over $150,000.
* Revenue Canada statistics for 1997 showed that while 9% of all tax filers declared taxable capital gains, this percent rises to 50% for those with Taxable Income over $150,000.
* These individuals who comprised 8/10ths of 1% of all tax filers earned over 50% of the $13.1B taxable Capital Gains declared that year.
* The Alliance proposal essentially constitutes a 1/3 reduction in the rate at which Capital Gains is included in income which will then be taxed at a lower rate.
* The rationale for lowering the inclusion rate for Capital Gains - spurring investment - is contradicted by other elements of the plan such as increasing content restrictions in RRSP's by 50% from 20 to 30%.
* Federal Surtax
* Elimination of the federal surtax.  This also benefits high-income earners since the surtax goes from 1.5% to 5% at $12,500 income.
* Lower Corporate Tax Rate
* The Alliance and the Liberals both plan to reduce the base corporate tax rate by 25% from 28% to 21% providing another windfall for the rich.
* The percent of the tax burden falling on corporations has already fallen by 38% since 197512.
* We are told that this is necessary to compete internationally.  However this fact is a result of our government's signing trade agreements such as NAFTA which allow corporations access to Canadian markets without accepting any responsibility for meeting the needs of Canadians.
* Who benefits from reduction in corporate taxes?  It is important to remember that people own corporations and benefits allocated to corporations ultimately flow through to those owners.
* Using dividend earnings as a proxy for corporate ownership it is clear who reaps the benefit of the 25% corporate tax reduction.
* 11% of Canadians reported taxable dividends in 1997.  The top 13% of taxpayers earned 75% of the total Dividends.  As with Capital Gains, this type of income becomes more concentrated as income increases.  Those with over $150,000 in TI (8 10ths of 1% of all filers) earned over 32% of the total taxable dividends that year.
* Good Stuff
* There are some proposals contained in the Alliance and the Liberal platforms that benefit the majority of Canadians.
- The proposed increases in the basic personal exemption and in deductions for spouses and dependent children.
- Reductions in EI premiums are good idea as these are highly regressive taxes and the most rapidly increasing federal tax since 197513.
* Conclusion
* The tax reductions promised by the Liberals and especially the Alliance primarily benefit the rich.
* It is unclear to me - as it apparently is to John McCallum - how the Alliance will be able to fulfill their pledge to fund social services while implementing their huge tax cuts for the wealthy even if the economy continues to boom.
* Some crumbs from the banquet table fall to the 92% of Canadians with less than TI of $60,000 but these are a pittance compared to the feast being enjoyed by the rich and super-rich.
* The Liberals reduced program spending from its 1995 high of $118.7B by $15.2B to $103.5B in 1999.  Program spending is projected at $121B in 2001 including the additional funding recently promised in the federal - provincial agreement.
* If the real 1995 level of spending had been maintained 2001 spending would have been $132B so we are still short by $11B.
* Inflation is threatening due to spiking oil prices and if this leads to interest rate increases it could have dramatic negative consequences for the economy leading to government deficits and a new round of program cuts.
5. CAP Alternative
* A computer simulation run for CAP by Infometrica in 1997 showed that the use of the CAP plan would have resulted in lower inflation and unemployment and higher growth than achieved over the past four years.
* It has also been proven through 40 years of demonstrated application.
* Short Term
* CAP believes that cutting federal government revenue without appropriate financial reform will ultimately spell more cuts in social programs.
* Key to the necessary financial reform is reinvigoration of the Bank of Canada and the return to a monetary policy that serves the interest of all Canadians.
* CAP proposes that the federal government use the BoC to inject $68 - $70B of interest free money into the economy over the next four years.
* This will allow a CAP government to implement tax cuts that, unlike those planned by the Alliance and the Liberals, will ease the tax burden on the vast majority of Canadians while ensuring that the federal government retains its ability to fund vital programs.
* We propose to:
* Reduce and eliminate the GST over three years.
- The GST takes in approximately $23B per year and is well within the range of tax cuts being advocated by the corporate owned parties.
- This is the most equitable tax break possible since the GST is a highly regressive tax and it applies to every Canadian man, woman and child.
- It is the most difficult tax to administer entailing a huge bureaucracy.
- It is a burden on all small companies.
- A cut in the GST would do more to stimulate economic growth than Capital Gains cuts or other perks for the rich by putting money in the hands of people who will spend it in their local economy.
- Recall that getting rid of the GST was one of the many promises made and broken by the Chrétien Liberals in 1993.
* Increase basic personal exemption and deductions for spouses and dependent children as previously noted.
* Increase tax-change thresholds to reverse the cumulative effects of deindexing of tax brackets over the past several years.
* Decrease EI premiums.  EI should be treated as a trust and managed separately from general revenues.  Premiums and benefits eligibility requirements for EI should be eased to mitigate the buildup of unnecessary surpluses.
* The key is that Canadians must make the effort to understand the historical role of the BoC in making the post WWII boom in Canada possible.  During that period;
- A million returning soldiers were given free education, subsidized housing and jobs.
- People who had worked in the armaments factories and become unemployed at the end of the ware were put to work in the great society building projects of the post-war period.
- An unprecedented development of infrastructure was undertaken - hospitals, schools, universities etc to deal with the huge post-war baby boom.
- The foundations of the social safety net were created and enhanced.
- All this while the debt was reduced from 131% of GDP in 1946 to 22% in 197514.
- This was done by a nation much poorer than the one we live in today.  It is a matter of priorities and of understanding how the institutions of our society function.
* The BoC commissioned COMPASS Research to perform a public survey for BoC to find out what Canadians knew about the bank.
* Malelaine Drohn writing in the G&M described Canadians' lack of understanding of this institution so critical to our economy and society as "unhealthy".
* People should be educating themselves and asking their MP about the role of the BoC in our economy.  If they don't know then they are not qualified to sit in the House - and most don't know.
* Long Term
* The reform of the BoC as discussed is key to reducing and ultimately eliminating the $40+ that we spend each year on servicing the federal debt.
* In 1997 the federal government collected $74B in personal income tax and spent about $45B on servicing its debt.
* In the long run we must look at making the tax system fairer by reintroducing the progressivity that has been eliminated over the years.  This should include additional tax brackets on extremely high incomes.
* While many people feel, with some justification, that government has been growing out of control, this is in fact not true.
* Government spending in real terms has not increased significantly since the mid-1970's.
* Their perceptions have been created by a steady shift in the tax burden from corporations and the wealthy elite that own a disproportionate share of them to lower and middle income earners.
* To put it in historical perspective, in 1964 there were 18 federal tax brackets and the top one was 80%.
6. Philosophy
* US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, "taxes are the price of civilization".
* The kind of economic polarization that has been developing in Canada for many years now and will be exacerbated by the economic programs proposed by both the Liberals and the Alliance is symptomatic of a society in decline.
* Studying our own recent history will show that we are capable of better things.
1 Vancouver Sun, October p.A6
2 Vancouver Sun October 7, 2000 p. A6
3 EKOS website
4 Ibid
5 Ibid
6 All numbers from Revenue Canada Taxation website.
7  Vancouver Sun October 6
8 McBride & Shields, Dismantling a Nation, 1997 p.59
9 G&M October 11, 2000 - Economists cast doubt on Day's tax-cut plan
10 Canadian Alliance A Time for Change p.10
11 Ibid p.9
12 McBride & Shields Dismantling a Nation 1997 p. 59
13 Ibid p.59
14 W. H. Pope All You Must Know About Economics, 1997 p.43
Taxes and the Federal Election
October 2000
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September 28, 2000
Trudeau Vision of Canada Sorely Missed
 Says Former Colleague Paul Hellyer

Toronto, ON -- Paul Hellyer, leader of the Canadian ACTION Party, today commented on the sad loss of his former Liberal colleague, The Hon. Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

"He was truly unique -- unlike any other politician I have known," stated Mr. Hellyer, who served with Mr. Trudeau in the cabinet of former prime minister, Lester B. Pearson, and held cabinet positions in Mr. Trudeau’s government.

"Pierre’s intellect was the sharpest of any politician I have know," Mr. Hellyer noted. "Unlike the vast majority, he had a vision for Canada. He wanted it to be a land where English- and French-speaking Canadians could live and work together as equals with a common cause. Regrettably, his vision has faded from the memory of lesser men and women."

Mr. Hellyer, who resigned from the Trudeau cabinet in 1969, over a difference on housing policy, concluded by stating that: "Mr. Trudeau will be sorely missed by the generation he inspired."

For more information, please contact:
Paul Hellyer -- 1-877-629-0841 or (416) 535-4144
 

TURN OFF THE TAP!   VOTE CAP!
Control of Canada's water yielded to the U.S. by NAFTA
By Mel Clark                 ...................excerpted from July August
2000 issue The CCPA Monitor

[In the April 2000 issue of *The CCPA Monitor*, Jamie Dunn of the Council
of Canadians stated that Canada's water was not protected under either the GATT or NAFTA, and called for both agreements to be renegotiated to provide such protection. In this response, Mel Clark, a former senior trade negotiator for the Canadian government, says that our water was protected under the GATT and that the only way to restore that safeguard would be to scrap NAFTA and return to trading with the United States under the GATT.]

"Contrary to the reassurances of federal politicians, Canada's water resources are not protected under the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). They were protected under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which gave Canada complete control over its water, but in signing NAFTA the federal government in effect yielded control of the country's water to the United States.

"In his article on Canada's water policy published earlier in The Monitor, the Council of Canadians' Jamie Dunn incorrectly cited GATT Article XX to support his claim that water was "not exempted from the obligations of the GATT." In fact, Article XX (General Exceptions) merely permitted contracting parties to waive their obligations for certain purposes, provided certain conditions were met. But Canada had no obligation to export its water--only to refrain from imposing duties on imported American water. Moreover, Canada had the right to levy prohibitive taxes and thus embargo water exports, precluding any need to invoke Article XX.

"The specific GATT provisions that gave Canada control of its water are Articles III: 1, 2, 3 and 4 (National Treatment) and Article I:1 (Export Taxes).

"Now that the GATT has been superseded by NAFTA, however, Americans are given the same rights as Canadians to our water. NAFTA cancels our right to tax water exports to the U.S., overrides the constitutional right of the provinces to control the water within their boundaries, and accords U.S. corporations the right to sue the federal government if it--or a province--fails to respect the terms of NAFTA. Nowhere in NAFTA is there any wording that gives Ottawa or the provinces the right to limit or embargo water exports to the U.S.".........Mr. Clark concludes that: "The only way to prevent this loss of our water is by terminating NAFTA (and the FTA) and returning to trade with the Americans under the GATT. The suggestion by the Council of Canadians and other critics that the terms of NAFTA and the FTA could simply be renegotiated to restore the protection of our water simply won't work ..."

[Full article is posted at <www.policyalternatives.ca>]
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Canadians' Choice:   NAFTA or Medicare
Can't Have Both
Says Canadian Action Party

Toronto, ON, 2000
Canadians must choose between the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Medicare, states Paul Hellyer, Canadian Action Party leader.

"In spite of the rhetoric we've been hearing lately, Canadians can't have both -- because certain clauses in NAFTA threaten the very existence of our present health-care system. It's time we recognized that the free trade agreement gives the American government and health-care corporations so much power that Medicare simply can't survive under its influence."

Mr. Hellyer said that, after years of relative silence about the connection between NAFTA and Medicare, evidence is mounting that the trade deal is the real reason our health-care system is being dismantled.

"Until now, those who wished to destroy our public, universally-accessible medical system and bring in a private, American-style system have preferred a kind of rear-guard attack to a frontal assault. They have deprived the system of more than $30 billion -- and now claim it doesn't work and needs to be semi- or fully-privatized.

"This was a clever tactic because the anti-Medicare lobby didn't have to use free trade directly -- it could hide behind the deficit. But more and more Canadians realize what is going on," the CAP leader noted.

Note the words of Clayton Yeutter, chief U.S. trade negotiator, just after the Canada/U.S. Free Trade Agreement was signed on October 3, 1987:  "We've signed a stunning new trade pact with Canada. The Canadians don't understand what they have signed. In twenty years, they will be sucked into the U.S. economy." Toronto Star, October 22,1987 Page A25

Mr. Hellyer pointed out that two studies of the relationship between NAFTA and Medicare reveal that the Chrétien government must know that Medicare is doomed under free trade.

According to former GATT negotiator Mel Clark, American trade law "provides a legal basis for the US to countervail any or all Canadian exports of goods on the grounds that government financial assistance for health care is a countervailable subsidy." (Countervail is a retaliatory trade measure which can be very costly.)

At the same time, writes Mr. Clark, Canada cannot legally protect itself from U.S. countervail because Chapter 19 of NAFTA gives American interests the right to countervail on demand. He warns"... there are no NAFTA rights Canada can invoke to protect Medicare from American countervail."

As well, Mr. Clark notes that Article 1201 of NAFTA "placed all Canadian health services under the agreement, including the production, distribution, marketing, sale and delivery of a health service ..." and Articles 1102 and 1202 "require Canada and the Provinces to accord US health 'service providers' the same treatment they accord Canadian providers without exception."

"Mr. Clark has put together a very frightening scenario," said Mr. Hellyer. "It appears that the Chrétien government knows it either has to dismantle Medicare or face a legitimate threat of countervail from the U.S. -- so that explains its destructive actions over the past few years."

Mr. Hellyer also quoted a recent study done by Vancouver lawyer Steven Shrybman for the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Mr. Shrybman agrees that Canada did not get an exclusion for health care under NAFTA -- only reservations which he describes as qualified and ambiguous. In his study, Mr. Shrybman points out that the U.S. has claimed that "... notwithstanding these reservations, 'services supplied by a private firm, on a profit or not-for-profit basis' are entirely subject to NAFTA investment and services discipline."

Premier Ralph Klein's private "surgical facilities" could open the door to an influx of U.S. health-care providers to that province and others under the terms of NAFTA. (Already a private US clinic is set to operate in White Rock, British Columbia)

Mr. Hellyer said anyone looking into the connections between the federal and certain provincial governments and health-care corporations would not be surprised that the way is being cleared for private investment dollars. For example, there are personal and professional connections between health-insurance companies in Canada and the U.S. and those who claim they are ready to defend Medicare.

The Canadian Action Party leader also referred to a recent comment made by former Liberal Health Minister Diane Marleau that the people making the rules for Medicare in Canada "want to please their friends, the powerful business lobby.""From her vantage point as a health minister, Madame Marleau saw first-hand what most Canadians can only suspect -- that our well-loved health-care system is being destroyed for the benefit of a privileged few so they can profit from Canadians' health concerns."

The opening of domestic markets for the benefit of "for profit" healthcare corporations is also being pursued at the World Trade Organization under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Canada is putting both healthcare and education on the table for negotiations.

Mr. Hellyer concluded that all Canadians who wish to fight to save Medicare must join forces and work together. He called on the leaders of all pro-Medicare organizations to meet and discuss a common strategy to save the system.

...............................................................................

For more information contact Paul Hellyer - toll free 1 (877) 629-0841. cap-pac@istar.ca CAP-PAC 99 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 302 Toronto, Ontario M6K 3J8 (416) 535-4144
www.canadianactionparty.ca
CAP-PAC 99 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 302 Toronto, Ontario M6K 3J8 (416) 535-4144


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