APEC is a grouping of 18 "economies" which aims to impose a "free trade" zone in the Asia-Pacific region. Despite the rhetoric, there is nothing free about "free trade." It is the forced changing of rules to benefit corporations at the expense of people, governments and the environment. As Joan Spero, the US Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs said, "APEC has a customer. APEC is not for governments, it is for business. Through APEC we aim to get government out of the way, opening the way for business to do business."

The Termination of our Social Safety Net

In theinternational market, there are cut backs made on employment insurance, welfare, education and health care are they are made under the excuse of luring investment. Any word of increasing taxes is extinguished by corporations forewarning to wit

Small businesses will actually end up weakening due to APEC. Without the benifit to large-scale government subsidies that are handed over out to big corporations every day and without cheap resources and cheap labour, small businesses simply cannot compete with the big ones. We are approaching an period of monopolistic capitalism, where a few major corporations can afford to play the game and because of that they can set the rules. There are more and more companies merging together and being bought out, it's common for this to happen now a days. Today, 51 corporations and 49 countries make up the 100 biggest economies, not 1oo countries not even 50% are countries. On top of that, 70% of international trade is controled by 500 transnationals. (1)

APEC an informal chit-chat. Although APEC agreements are often described as non-binding, this assumes that everyone comes to the table on equal footing. However, there are huge vested interests and imbalances of power at play. While the rules may remain somewhat flexible for the US and Japan, weaker nations will be forced into compromising positions.

Great Opportunity for Cultural Exchange and Dialogue

Secretary of State (Asia Pacific), Raymond Chan, expresses our governments position, affirming that "discussion of human rights and social development might impede progress on economic and trade issues." We give praise to and give special treatment to mass murderers such as Jiang Zemin of China andGeneral Suharto of Indonesia, when APEC pays a visit. Jiang Zemin was compliant in the Tiananmen square massacre, referring to it as "much ado about nothing," and was liable for the heavy crackdown that ensued. Suharto is accountable (among other things) for the appeals from dissidents in both countries, Canada withholds their position on human rights and refuses to take a stand against it's abuses. (1)

APEC has nagative effects on the Environment

Some common words found in the essay are:
Prosperity APEC, Businesses Prosper, , Ultimately Constructive, Business APEC, Safety Net, APEC Free, Jiang Zemin, Exchange Dialogue, Constructive Engagement, human rights, free trade, constructive engagement, trade agreements, canadian government, cultural exchange, safety net, 1 apec, corporate agenda, asia pacific,
Approximate Word count = 1587
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)