Pacific Peoples’ Partnership along with its allies are deeply concerned with the possibility of a signing of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the nation of Indonesia.
PPP was alerted to this potential agreement by one of our allies. The Canadian Government made a call for consultations on a potential free trade agreement (also referred to as a CEPA but they are fundamentally very similar). PPP decided that we would send our reflections and critiques to the call, given our long relationship with the people of West Papua as well as our commitment to environmental stewardship and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
You can read our official letter here:
Our letter highlights the need for the Canadian government to commit to fundamental environmental and human rights standards in all its foreign policy agreements, trade-related or otherwise. As our ally Dr. David Webster of Bishop’s University eloquently put it in his recent opinion piece:
…trade alone does not a relationship make. Canada will be better understood if it honestly and consistently advocates for human rights, including LGBTQ+ rights, religious freedoms, and improved treatment of Indigenous Peoples in West Papua and elsewhere.
We continue to monitor the situation in West Papua as well as the environmental and human rights implications of any trade or foreign policy agreements made by the Canadian Government and hope that policymakers ensure the respect of the environment and Indigenous Peoples comes first.