Canadian Union of Public Employees  Tweet-In for Colombia – Stop the free trade agreement http://www.bilaterals.org/spip.php?article17323

Trost touts Colombia trade deal Free trade agreement would serve to benefit both countries: MP says http://www.globalsaskatoon.com/money/Trost+touts+Colombia+trade+deal/3008921/story.html

Increasing trade between Canada and Colombia would help fight drug traffickers and improve human rights in the South American country, says Saskatoon-Humboldt MP Brad Trost.A free-trade agreement would also make investment easier for mining companies looking to expand in Colombia, according to the International Trade ministry.

The federal NDP opposes Canada's agreement for similar reasons."Colombia has an appalling human rights record," said NDP MP Peter Julian, his party's international trade critic."Signing the trade agreement is likely to exacerbate the problem."

The Colombian government has forcibly removed peasant landowners in order to sell land to international companies, and the government continues to ignore labour rights, Julian said.About 2,700 Colombian trade unionists have been killed since 1986."(An agreement) rewards a government that has its hands soaked in blood," said Julian, who compares the situation to signing an trade agreement with North Korea or Myanmar.