TORONTO, July 5, 2001 -- A group of 25 scholars from Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru will meet at York University next week for a 10-day discussion of the social impacts of a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
The meeting comes on the heels of publication of the FTAA draft agreement this week, an effort by trade ministers to demonstrate openness in international trade negotiations that has only provoked greater criticism that the FTAA will undermine labour rights and environmental protections.
"We will be looking at the effects of economic integration in the key areas of labour, health and education, and at the risk of further marginalizing large segments of society with an agreement that fails to integrate a strategy for human security, social justice and the environment," said Daniel Drache, director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies at York, and co-chair of the meeting.
Among the topics for discussion are:
- Political Instability & New Directions in the Hemisphere: the Fox and Bush Presidencies
- The Management of Borders: What has changed?
- Marginalization and Exclusion: The Hemisphere’s Number One Problem
- Integration, Dollarization, Employment, Income Distribution & Gender Rights
- Power Asymmetry: Canada and Mexico Managing the U.S. Relationship
- Is the U.S. Model of Governance Becoming the Hemispheric Standard?
Participants from Latin America include: Prof. Alcides Costa Vaz of the University of Brazilia, a specialist on Brazil’s economic integration and the advantages of the Mercosur regional trading bloc; Prof. Alberto L. Bialakowsky of the University of Buenos Aires, specializing in issues of marginalization related to drugs and crime and the problems of street youth; Prof. Silvia Maria Schor from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, specializing in the problems of homelessness and poverty.
The meeting is under the auspices of the annual Summer Institute sponsored by York’s Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. The Institute provides an opportunity for leading scholars and policy makers from Latin America to work with Canadian scholars and representatives from government, business, labour and social movements on the new hemispheric trade agenda and Canada’s evolving role in integration. Co-chairing the Institute with Daniel Drache is Jean Daudelin, senior researcher at the North-South Institute and adjunct professor at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa. For a detailed program, visit the website at www.robarts.yorku.ca/summer_ institute.
-30-
For more information, please contact:
Daniel Drache
Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies
York University
416-736-5415
drache@yorku.ca
Laura Taman
Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies
York University
416-736-5499
llt@yorku.ca
YU/085/01
