NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release
March 1, 2001

Citizens' groups plan public forum on Parliament Hill to discuss FTAA
agreement

OTTAWA -- A coalition including women, environmental, student, labour,
and church organizations is organizing a one-day forum to be held April 1
on Parliament Hill, which will include public hearings on the harmful
implications of the FTAA agreement, as well as training in non-violence.

The forum's organizers have joined tens of thousands of petitioners
calling on the Canadian government to release the text of the FTAA
agreement before March 20, one month before the Summit of the Americas in
Quebec City.

"Our members of parliament and the public deserve to know what our
government plans to sign at the Summit," said Dave Bleakney, an organizer
with the coalition.

NDP MP Svend Robinson has come under fire for helping the coalition book
space on Parliament Hill, but organizers are emphasizing this is the most
appropriate space for the forum.

"We are holding this forum on Parliament Hill, in the very committee
rooms where, if the FTAA text were public, parliamentary committees could
be discussing how the agreement will hurt things like our environment,
health care, indigenous people, and how it risks the future welfare of
peoples throughout the Americas," said Bleakney.

The forum will also include an information and training session on non
violence.

"We plan to be at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade on April 2, to support the call for the release of the text. We are
worried about how protesters might be treated, and want to be prepared,"
said Kerry Pither, another organizer.

"We are alarmed by the militarized fortress being erected around Quebec
City, the growing risk of arrest for peaceful protesters, and the risk of
violent suppression by authorities," she said.

"So this forum will first inform the public about what is at stake with
the FTAA agreement, and then help equip citizens with the skills to help
keep protests peaceful," she concluded.

A full schedule for the forum and list of speakers will be available by
March 8.

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For more information contact Kerry Pither at sol...@web.net