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UNI Global Union has called on Michael Ignatieff, leader of the Opposition and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, to reconsider his position on the Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement and support efforts to halt its ratification.



“President Alvaro Uribe's government has one of the worst human rights records in the world, said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “By endorsing this trade deal, Canadian leaders are turning their backs on the thousands of murdered trade unionists, human rights activists, journalists, indigenous people and others who have been killed with impunity by the state and paramilitaries in the country.”



Jennings says in a letter to Ignatieff that “the current agreement constitutes a repudiation of Canadian values and exposes Prime Minister Stephen Harper's heartless reward for the ongoing human and labour rights violations of the Uribe government.”



UNI is calling on Ignatieff and the Liberal Party to join other Canadian opposition parties who prefer to hold the Canada-Colombia free trade deal back until an independent human rights impact assessment is carried out and the resulting concerns addressed.



Click on "RELATED FILES" to read Philip Jennings' letter to Michael Ignatieff.