What makes this agreement so critical is its breathtaking scope and complexity. The GATS applies to measures of all governments - federal, provincial, First Nation, regional and municipal. It deals with the environment, culture, natural resources, health care, education and social services. It covers virtually all government measures including laws, regulations, guidelines, and even unwritten practices. It restricts the actions of governments regarding protection of services through legally enforceable constraints backed up by trade sanctions. And it has a built-in escalator. National governments - including Canada’s - have already committed to successive rounds of negotiation intended to broaden and deepen the agreement.

Medicare is definitely a target. International corporate lobbyists are salivating at the prospect of winning access to the $90 billion-per-year Canadian health system. Their agenda is to gain entry to the market, and to promote the commercialization, privatization and deregulation of Medicare. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky is on the record as stating that she is working to ensure that healthcare is automatically included.

Although each country negotiates exemptions, fears about the protection of Canadian Medicare are escalating. So far, in rulings, the agreement has forcefully challenged government regulatory measures that even indirectly or unintentionally affect conditions of competition for service suppliers. Medicare appears not to be protected, along with other services provided through a mix of public and private delivery and funding. And because actions by all levels of government are included, Alberta’s move to privatize hospital services could open the door to privatization in other provinces.

Shrouded in secrecy and allied with international corporate lobbyists, negotiations are progressing. In late May 2000, the WTO Council on Trade in Services adopted a plan to accelerate negotiations. Initial market access proposals from each country were due in December 2000. According to observers, Canada’s is one of the four governments who are pushing the hardest for greater commitments. Behind the scenes, corporations are sponsoring conferences, held with lobbyists, government officials, executives and academics to refine and extend their ideas.

At the same time, public awareness about the GATS and opposition to its goals are growing. The defeat of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) under the pressure of widespread and committed opposition and the mass protests against global corporatization show that it is possible to overcome this powerful agenda. The informal deadline to complete the GATS 2000 talks is December 31, 2002. Non-governmental organizations, coalitions and action groups are actively organizing in resistance. Upcoming campaigns and events will be listed in OHC mailings.