April has been quite exciting with several protests and demonstrations and meetings designed to bring attention to The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) related subjects.

Out labour council with the Polaris Institute had a protest on March 28th that saw over 200 gather downtown to protest the GATS and FTAA by forming a human wall around Kingston City Hall. After the protest the council chambers were filled to listen to Murray Dobbin tell us just have the trade agreement will strip municipalities of up to 90% of the decisions they make and hand the decisions to corporations who are after profit from those decisions. City Council voted on April 3rd, to approve a motion to denounce the GATS and FTAA.

I attended the Canadian Labour Congress Privatization Conference in Ottawa on behalf of the council. It is clear we need to revitalize the anti-privatization wave attacking us fro all levels of government. The labour council ad for May's Pic Press reflects that message; “We All Lose, When we minimize the role of government, deregulate public safety, and let the market set the rules.” The conference developed a 10-point action plan to be administered from the CLC that will be discussed at the meeting. I thank the council for the opportunity to attend.

While at the conference in Ottawa I had the opportunity to join Kingston protesters who were among the 1000 plus who marched on 125 Sussex to demand the text of the FTAA be made public. Pictures of that day are on the council web site at www.pboyle.net follow the link to the photo album page. A protest on Tuesday morning April 3rd saw a few hundred at the Supreme Court steps protesting Bell Canada's decision to appeal pay equity rulings. And at noon on the same day Globalization Jeopardy street theatre was performed in the Sparks Street mall to lunch-time visitors.

On Thursday April 4th, I spoke at the Galxo Not Welcome rally at Stauffer Library at Queens. Glaxo Wellcome's parent company GlaxoSmithKline along with a number of other drug companies is taking the South African government including former president Nelson Mandela to court for obtaining affordable generic drugs. They protested to ask Queen's to remove Glaxo's name from the Clinical Education Center at Queens and cut all ties with the corporation.

On Saturday April 7, I accompanied Oliver Doyle to an OFL/CLC meeting with co-chairs of the training board. The future of the relationship of labour and the board was discussed and Oliver will report on that. I was asked to attend as an OFL VP and we wanted Oliver from our board to attend to be aware of issues as we move forward in our attempt to have the labour members reflect labours' views on the board. A meeting of labour directors to the board is scheduled for May 4th in Gananoque to discuss issues. Members are represented from both the Kingston and Brockville labour councils.

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in Quebec City in April has the activists and our community partners involved in planning sessions and strategies. Dave Lake is coordinating the labour council buses and we have a good contingent going to the protest on Saturday April 21.

Our Labour's Voice in The Community cable TV welcomes WCB activist Mike McFadden. Mike has been busy helping our Injured Workers Group with training and compensation issues. The second show will feature Sarah Miller from the Queens Anti Globalization Coalition. Sarah will detail the activism of students on the campus and the links made with the labour council and community.

The Day of Mourning committee of Oliver Doyle, Cecilia Brooks, Linda Woods, Bonnie Smith, and Arlie Redmond are well on their way to plan for this day and the poster contest material has been distributed to the local schools. Howard Hampton and Irene Harris will be speaking at the event. We urge you to come and bring your family to the pancake breakfast.

Our council has applied for HRDC funding for a student to work in the council office again this year. We should find out in early May if we will be awarded funding for a student to coordinate Labour Day and do some research and revamping our labour history display.

I am away from tonight's meeting off to Quebec City to prepare for the 2nd Summit of The Americas with my union the Steelworkers. We welcome to tonight's meeting several new delegates. We thank all those who stood for committees at the last meeting and we have lots to do ahead of us planning for Labour Day and other events. We will also be filling all committee tonight so please consider standing when nominated to committees to fulfill the work of the council.

As always,
In solidarity,

Peter J. Boyle
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