Members of Toronto City Council are looking to provide support for Fair Trade Toronto activists looking to get international recognition for Toronto as a “Fair Trade Town” under the regulations of the Fair Trade Town movement. The goal of the movement is to increase sales of fair trade products such as coffee, tea and sugar with the aim of promoting sustainability and improving working conditions for farmers and workers around the world.
At a meeting of City Council’s Government Management committee in February, members voted to adopt a proposal to purchase only fair trade coffee, tea and sugar for shelters and long-term care homes. It is also proposed that a staff member from the city’s Environment and Energy Office will “be appointed to the Fair Trade Toronto’s Fair Trade Towns Committee.”
The attempt to gain Fair Trade Town status is controversial to some who see the potential increase in city costs as counterproductive to the needs of the organizations affected by them. A city report on the initiatives insists that competing bids will keep prices down. “The initiative wouldn’t cost the city much money and basically is a form of recognition, for the most part, for purchasing practices the city already employs,” said Councillor Mike Layton on the subject. Layton hopes that designating Toronto a “Fair Trade Town” would also give Fair Trade Toronto activists the legitimacy to make demands of local businesses to follow suit with their own purchasing practices.
Council will vote on whether to go through with the proposal on April 3rd. In order for Torontoto achieve Fair Trade Town Status, we will have to meet the movement’s 6 core goals. If successful we would join the ranks of Fair Trade Towns across 18 countries, including Vancouver, Boston, San Francisco, and Barrie.
[via InsideToronto, Globe and Mail]
Correction: Links originally pointed to American Fair Trade Town movement. New links refer to the Canadian initiative.
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Eva Voinigescu is an intern at Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter @EvaVoinigescu.
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