Canadian protesters to the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) in Quebec, Canada, have been cordoned off 25 kilometers/15 miles away from the SPP meeting place.
The Service and Prosperity Plan for North America (Canada, the United States, and Mexico) is holding a meeting of the three leaders in Montebello, Quebec on August 20-21, 2007. This is apparently the third meeting for the SPP. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/... or look on Google or Yahoo news for more recent information about the SPP.
A progressive group, The Council of Canadians* was trying to get some residence for the SPP meeting, 6 miles away[1], and were told by the US Army, RCMP, and Quebec police that this was not allowed.
There are some very strange goings-on around this meeting though as you see, none of the three governments seem to be doing this in a transparent process.
http://www.marketwire.com/...
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today filed a notice with Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez that it is seeking access to the meetings and records of the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC) under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) -- the federal open meetings law (5 U.S.C App. 2 §3(2)). Specifically, Judicial Watch seeks to attend and/or participate in meetings of the NACC and its U.S. component subcommittees, the next meeting of which is reportedly scheduled for August 20, 2007 in Montebello, Quebec, Canada.
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/...
The "plan to create" a New American Union in 2010 is "directly stated only" in the May 2005 task force report Building a North American Community published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Jerome Corsi wrote June 26, 2006.
The "blueprint" which President George W. Bush is following to create a "New American Union" was "laid out" in the May 2005 report, Corsi wrote May 19, 2006. "The CFR report connects the dots between the U.S. Bush administration's actual policy on illegal immigration and the drive to create the North American Union."
A "New American Union" is being created through a process of anti-democratic inter-governmental "harmonization", and "deep integration", without ever having to bring the issue before Canadians for a clear referendum or vote. The closed door consolidation of the NAU is a fundamental violation of the constitutional democratic rights of Canadians.
One might also question the goals of the plan, what the economy has to do with it and why three countries would want to pool resources together at all. The US economy seems to be going downhill since Bush was elected by the Supreme Court in 2000, with huge deficits, with the US dollar deprecating, and the Canadian dollar increasing and almost at par due to commodities, from what I hear. Case in point: in 2000, the Canadian dollar compared to the US dollar was around 65 cents, and now its hovering around 95 cents. There might not be Canadian commodities anymore though, with this plan.[3]
There have been several rumblings of a North America Union for a while now. It certainly ties in with the election of the new Conservative party, their Bush/neo-conservative like antics, Project for a New American Century plans, the Council of Foreign Relations plans, NAFTA, and the NACC. What it would mean is less regulation, more integration, and less democracy, from what I've read. For example, the NACC http://en.wikipedia.org/... which is driving the plan for the SPP is a body of corporations for this domestic and foreign policy push towards integration. It is an organization completely outside of Canada's Parliament and Congress. For some more antics see the SPP Criticism on Wikipedia:
On May 1, 2007, during the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade, Conservative MP Leon Benoit, chair of the committee, came under scrutiny when he shut down the committee after the opposition overruled his decision to prevent a witness (Maude Barlow) from testifying about the SPP's influence upon Canada.[1] On May 10, 2007, the chair also prevented University of Alberta professor Gordon Laxer from testifying that SPP would leave Canadians "to freeze in the dark" because "Canada itself -- unlike most industrialized nations -- has no national plan or reserves to protect its own supplies" by saying Laxer's testimony was not relevant, defying a majority vote to overrule his motion, shutting down the Committee meeting and leaving with the other three out of four Conservative members; the meeting later continued presided by the Liberal vice-chair.[2] After these disruptions, the National Post reported on a Conservative party manual to, among other things, usurp Parliamentary committees and cause chaos in unfavorable committees.[3][4] The NDP have also criticized SPP for being undemocratic, not open to Parliament, and opaque.[5]
This Conservative government has also used ultra vire methods to shut down the Canadian Wheat Board, when they were supposed to get Parliamentary approval, including gag orders on members of Board; when they were informed of this change, one violated it and was fired. http://en.wikipedia.org/... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/...
There's a video of Canada's Foreign Minister Peter Mackay displaying this apparent reality dissonance at Digg a few days ago: http://digg.com/...
Canada's MacKay: SPP a "Great Organization," Denies Free Speech Ban: VIDEO
Peter MacKay, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Canada, told Canadian activists that the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP.gov) is a "Great Organization." He did, however, deny reports that the upcoming meeting would be guarded heavily by international security, including a "Free Speech" ban inside a 25 KM perimeter around the meeting. VIDEO
I haven't been to any protests, but 25KM sounds undemocratic and draconian. I remember video of WTO protests in Seattle years ago, and they were quite close to the leaders, were they not, even with the "free speech zones"? Strangely, the US military is also co-ordinating the Quebec response.[4]
There has apparently been progress in the US Congress and US states in blocking some of these initiatives though (such as the NAFTA Superhighway from Mexico->US->Canada) -- In Canada however, the Liberals seem to at least tacitly support this plan; they are the Official Opposition, and yet haven't brought anything up about SPP from what I've read.[2]
This might also tie in with the Illegal Immigration amnesty bill that was hotly debated a few weeks ago (oddly enough, by Bush, which was quite an affront to his voting base). Conservative-turned-Independant MP Garth Turner also brought the SPP up on his blog[5], which pushed me to post this.
REFERENCES
[1] http://www.novanewsnow.com/...
Complicated issue, worth looking into
by Wendy Elliott/The Advertiser
Article online since August 2nd 2007, 16:10
Complicated issue, worth looking into
If you don’t think there’s a conspiracy going on, remember the paranoid reaction of our federal Conservatives in May when the NDP pushed for hearings on the Commons International Trade Committee on the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). On that occasion political economist Gordon Laxer, who heads Alberta’s Parkland Institute, started to testify on energy implications of the SPP. ... Demonstrations against it are planned already. In Seattle, a public march is slated against the North American Union, but protestors aren’t allowed within 15 miles of Montebello. ... Although business CEOs and federal officials will be present, no members of civil society have been invited to attend, although these plans could ultimately affect all of us, notes Kustudic. ...She told me the council had planned to hold their event in a municipal building in Papineauville, a community 6km from Montebello. ... They had already booked a hall and made a deposit when they were informed by municipal authorities that they would not be permitted to use the space because the RCMP, the Quebec provincial police, and - get this – the U.S. Army didn’t approve of the plan.
*The Council of Canadians is a progressive group. They've been called to testify before Parliamentary Committee meetings on Trade (which you can read here: http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/... and this one especially about Professor Gordon Laxer for some very odd reactions from the Conservative member Chair of the Committee on Trade as well http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/... )
[2] http://www.ndp.ca/...
Canadians also deserve to know what Americans will know about continental integration plan: NDP MP Peter Julian
OTTAWA – NDP Trade Critic Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) was encouraged to see the U.S. Congress shares the NDP’s concerns about the lack of transparency and democratic oversight surrounding the implementation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP).
A vote on an amendment tabled by Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, which was passed overwhelmingly on Tuesday, prohibits the use of federal funds by the U.S. Department of Transportation in participating in the SPP working groups until the U.S. Congress has an opportunity to review and assess the agenda of the SPP.
[3] http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/... "U.S. Bush administration seeks to take over Canada's Atlantic Provinces through Atlantica scheme"
[4] http://www.globalresearch.ca/...
U.S. Military To Crackdown on North American Union Protesters? Secretive SPP confab to be protected by 25km military cordon, forums blocked
by Steve Watson; Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - Global Researc
The US army is to enforce a huge security perimeter around the upcoming North American Union meeting in Canada this August as well as cracking down on expected protests, having already shut down a public forum due to take place close to the event.
...
It comes as no surprise to NAU researchers that the latest SPP meeting will be a highly secretive and guarded affair given that CFR documents have revealed that the group wants to "establish private bodies that would meet regularly or annually to buttress North American relationships, along the lines of the Bilderberg conferences."
Internal SPP documents released under the FOIA have also shown that a wide range of US administrative law is being re-written in stealth under this program to "integrate" and "harmonize" with administrative law in Mexico and Canada, in a similar fashion to moves that have become commonplace within the [European Union].
[5] http://www.garth.ca/... Montebello tryst
PMSH did not brief Parliament after last year’s round of integration talks with the US. Will this time be different, as American woes deepen?
In a month the presidents of the United States and Mexico will sit down with the prime minister of Canada for the third annual round of talks on SPP. The meeting will take place in Montebello, Quebec. It will happen behind a massive security corridor. Canada is being so accommodating, we’re even letting the Yanks bring their guns.