The Agreement would also, for the first time at all levels of Canadian government, open public procurement to European suppliers. This raises very serious concerns about the ability of local governments to foster local sustainable development.

The Canada-EU CETA will likely undermine democratic control over public services, provide extensive rights for European corporations and the ability to enforce those rights through unaccountable arbitration, extend patent protections on brand name drugs with an associated sharp rise in drug costs, eliminate buy-local options for municipal governments, and put even more roadblocks in the way of passing effective climate and environmental protection policies. The agreement in principle was signed last week in Europe. It will take until 2015 for CETA to be operational.