Hoodwinked-The Myth Of Free Trade
Anyone who senses that democratic governments are being increasingly ruled by global corporate interests at the expense of public interest should see this film
Charlottetown: Breaking the Silence PEI
Monday June 9, 2008
Screening begins 19h00
Venue: City Cinema is located at 64 King Street in downtown Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. King Street is a one-way street, so you must turn right or left off Queen Street onto King, and then turn left into our parking lot. Parking is free. Pedestrians can enter through the parking lot, or using our Water Street entrance.
This is a film about Canada.
"If we just let markets decide, we wouldn't have a country today." David Orchard
Hoodwinked: The Myth of Free Trade is a deeply researched, informative and thought-provoking documentary about the effects of free trade on Canada.
OTTAWA - Did you know that the Canadian post office has been sued by an American corporation under the rules of NAFTA? Free trade or subtle sellout? The feature documentary Hoodwinked: The Myth of Free Trade examines some of the less-talked-about effects of free trade and corporate globalization on Canada. It was produced by West/Dunn Productions of Ottawa.
There's more to these trade deals than the matter of tariffs. Are you a university graduate wondering where all the good jobs are? Have you recently been laid off from a decent manufacturing job and told to re-train as a call centre answer-person? Do you ever wonder why Canada can’t meet its Kyoto targets? And why are we told we can’t afford a public healthcare system anymore?
Rich in seldom seen archival material covering Canada's 400-year history, Hoodwinked: The Myth of Free Trade is narrated by historian and former Senator Laurier LaPierre and Linda West. It features interviews with former Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. John Turner, sociologist Peter Urmetzer, Canada Research Chair for Social Justice and critic of neoconservatism Shadia Drury, political economist Stephen Clarkson, economist Jim Stanford, David Orchard, author of The Fight for Canada -- Four Centuries of Resistance to American Expansionism, and the late Dalton Camp, writer and former strategist for the Progressive Conservative Party.
Reviewers have been saying: "Now I finally understand what this free trade deal is all about." "Compelling viewing..." "One of this year's must-see films along with An Inconvenient Truth."
Who's in it
Dalton Camp was a major figure in the old Progressive Conservative Party, and is known as a Red Tory. He brought a more democratic leadership selection process to the party, practices later adopted by the other political parties. Later in life Camp was an important journalist and observer of the Canadian political scene. Dalton Camp died in 2002. This interview was conducted at his home in New Brunswick in 1997 and is really the starting point of this whole film project.
Stephen Clarkson is professor of Political Economy at the University of Toronto and author of many articles and several books including Uncle Sam and Us: Globalization, Neoconservatism, and the Canadian State. His latest book is The Big Red Machine: How the Liberal Party Dominates Canadian Politics.
Shadia Drury is Canada Research Chair for Social Justice at the University of Regina and author of several books including Leo Strauss and the American Right. She is a leading authority on the Straussian underpinnings of the current neoconservative administration in Washington. (One of the Straussian tenets was that "the standards of the law that apply to all humanity cannot apply to the noble liar ...[with this, Strauss] has dispensed with truth in the political arena and endorsed systematic lying...") Before joining the University of Regina, Drury taught at the University of Calgary where Preston Manning also lectures.
David Orchard was twice a leadership candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. In the last campaign he gave his support to Peter MacKay after MacKay signed an agreement not to merge with the Canadian Alliance and to review NAFTA. MacKay reneged on both commitments. Orchard studied law and, while continuing his political activism, also farms over 2000 acres in Saskatchewan using organic methods. He is the author of The Fight for Canada: Four Centuries of Resistance to American Expansionism. You can learn more about David from his website at www.davidorchard.com.
Jim Stanford, Ph.D. is an Economist in the Research Department of the Canadian Auto Workers. He also writes a regular column in the Globe and Mail. Jim's undergraduate economics degree is from the University of Calgary where Stephen Harper also studied ecoonomics. "We came to different conclusions," he says. He received his Ph.D. in economics in 1995 from the New School for Social Research in New York, specializing in international trade, macroeconomics, and the economic impact of labour and social institutions. Prior to that, he received an M.Phil. in Economics from Cambridge University, U.K. (1986) and a B.A. Hons. in Economics from the University of Calgary (1984).
The Rt. Hon. John Turner was the 17th Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Liberal opposition to Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives during the free trade election of 1988. Recently he led the Canadian delegation to monitor the elections in Ukraine. He practises at the Toronto law firm Miller Thomson.
Peter Urmetzer is associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan and author of From Free Trade to Forced Trade: Canada in the Global Economy. His research includes careful examination of trade and GDP statistics and the origins and history of free trade. His latest book, Globalization Unplugged, has just been released.
Historical narrator:
Laurier LaPierre is an historian, writer and educator. He became well known as a co-host of the legendary CBC-TV series, This Hour Has Seven Days. Since then he has written many books on Canadian history including Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Romance of Canada and 1759: The Battle for Canada. He has recently retired from the Senate of Canada. LaPierre is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
The filmmakers:
Bill Dunn and Linda West have been producing film, video and digital productions for over 25 years, primarily on Canadian themes.
Bill Dunn is a former commercial and editorial photographer with a successful career in the competitive Toronto market. He diversified into film production 25 years ago and produced a number of films including two prime time CBC documentaries on ordinary Canadians in the Second World War, Normandy Dream and Spitfire Pilot.
Linda West began as a freelance feature writer and joined Bill in the film business, writing film scripts and treatments and recently researching and writing an electronic history textbook for their digital Canadian history project A Country by Consent / Un pacte, un pays. This project, which includes film and audio-visual lessons, is currently in schools across Canada and is used in Canadian Studies programs in the United States and Japan.
West/Dunn Productions is based in Ottawa.
