APEC Forum fails Christian criteria for just and moral economy -- Anglicans
https://archives.anglican.ca/link/official7017
- Date
- 1997 November 18
- Source
- Anglican News Service
- Type
- Press release
- Text of motion
- VANCOUVER, November 18, 1997 -- The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum falls far short of Christian criteria for just development and a moral economy, according to members of the Anglican Church's EcoJustice Committee.
- Canada will host the next round of APEC talks in Vancouver next week (November 23-25). The stated intention of the forum is admirable. According to the leaders statement after the 1996 forum, in Manila, it is: "to enrich the lives and improve the standards of living of all citizens on a substantial basis." However, the nature of the forum belies this goal in several important ways:
- - its definition of "standard of living" is rigidly limited to a strictly economic understanding. Member countries are referred to as "economies" and political representatives as "economic leaders". In this perspective, "citizens" are reduced to "consumers";
- - business leaders are given a privileged consultative status in the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), but the voices of other citizens are absent. The perspectives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labour and social groups are specifically excluded;
- - even by APEC's limited definition, many topics with enormous economic significance are specifically excluded. For example, the environmental consequences of economic activity are never discussed with reference to minimum environmental standards. Similarly, labour standards and even basic human rights have been excluded from the talks;
- - fundamental political issues, including questions of the rights of indigenous peoples, are excluded. Two recent Canadian court decisions have shown that indigenous rights to natural resources can have dramatic economic impacts;
- - in keeping with objectives stated after last year's APEC forum, the Vancouver discussions are expected to lead to further privatization, deregulation and reduction of "costs of doing business". In the past, this has been achieved by reducing minimum wages, reducing or eliminating social programs and safety nets, and removing policies for environmental protection;
- - the discussions take place behind closed doors, and no actual legislation or proposal is ever presented to Parliament for public debate. Since APEC is not accountable to any Canadian public institution, it represents a fundamentally undemocratic process.
- "The economy is a faith issue," says the Reverent Margaret Marquardt, chair of the EcoJustice Committee. "The economy is a major governing factor in the lives of all peoples, regardless of what part of the planet we occupy. The priorities and objectives of any economic initiative are therefore faith concerns.
- "As Christians we are called to put the dignity and sacredness of human life at the centre of all our actions. As Christians we are called to share the earth's riches, while caring for creation itself. As Christians we are motivated by an ethic of cooperation. It is the assessment of this committee that APEC's aims and methods are contrary to these goals.
- "How can we talk about economics apart from its relationship with a people, a nation, a land ? From a Christian perspective -- and, we would have thought, a political one -- it is impossible to separate economic investment from its impact on communities. It is impossible to separate economic activity from its effect on those who work in it."
- Marquardt suggests it is fair to ask elected political leaders how their participation in APEC will "advance the standard of living of all citizens," and particularly:
- - what will happen to workers in Canada and elsewhere as liberalized trade tends increasingly to the reduction or elimination of minimum wages ?
- - how will our standard of living be improved as standards of environmental protection are eliminated ?
- - APEC systematically refuses to include, refer to, or advocate respect for basic human rights. As we deal more and more closely with repressive governments or regimes, what assurance do we have that Canada's human rights will not come to be viewed as an excessive cost of doing business ?
- - how and when will the people whose lives are most affected be heard ?
- "To view countries as economies and citizens as primarily consumers is to deny our humanity and to deny the web of mutuality in which we live, in communities which must be sustained," says Marquardt. "We believe there are fair trade and development alternatives. That is why we support Canadian churches and many other NGOs in their efforts to organize an effective People's Summit to do what the Government of Canada has failed to do: make the voices of citizens heard on these crucial issues."
- The People's Summit, also in Vancouver, runs from November 17-24, 1997, with additional ecumenical events scheduled for November 25, 1997.
- The EcoJustice Committee is a national committee of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is mandated by General Synod to work on issues of economic and social justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
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- For further information, contact: The Rev. Margaret Marquardt, Chair, EcoJustice Committee Tel: (604) 874-5030
- Joy Kennedy, Coordinator, EcoJustice Tel: (416) 924-9199 ext. 202 FAX: (416) 924-3483
- Contact: Doug Tindal, Director of Information Resources: 416-924-9199 ext. 286; 905-335-8349 (residence) or Sam Carriere, Editor, Print Resources: 416-924-9199 ext. 256
- Subjects
- Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
- Economics - Moral and ethical aspects
- Economics - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Economic justice - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Human rights - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Conservation of natural resources - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Anglican Church of Canada. Eco-Justice Committee