Sign up to receive SPP updates:
RSS feed.  |
ABOUT THE SPP | BACKGROUNDERS | MEDIA | VIDEO/AUDIO |
SPP resources SPP Summit - New Orleans SPP Summit - Montebello Teach-in |
SPP WATCH
As well as regular SPP updates, the site is full of reports, interviews and multimedia presentations critical of what's often called the "deep integration" of North America. News updates will be posted here regularly and archived into the seven categories on the left. The site is updated regularly so visit often, or sign up for regular updates above. Photo: Council delivers 10,000 Stop the SPP petitions during the August 2007 Montebello Leaders' Summit.
--- Industry Week magazine contrasts European vs. SPP approach to chemicals regulation July 21, 2008 A new article in Industry Week magazine offers an interesting and brief explanation of Europe’s new chemicals regulation laws (the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) legislation), and how they differ from the North American approach being developed through the Security and Prosperity Partnership. (more...) "Any harsh treatment endured by Khadr is Canada's responsibility," says lawyer Kuebler July 17, 2008 As reported by CTV this week, new documents and video footage “suggest Canada was aware of the harsh treatment that Canadian terror suspect Omar Khadr was being subjected to in Guantanamo Bay at the hands of U.S. military interrogators.” But Prime Minister Harper still says the government knew nothing and has no intention of interfering, or in asking that Khadr be allowed to return to Canada. (more...) June 26, 2008 The federal government’s Competition Review Panel wants to scrap the ban on bank mergers, “lighten up its foreign ownership restrictions of uranium and airline assets, and liberalize the telecommunications industry,” according to the Globe and Mail today. (more...) Canadians should hope for an Obama presidency and the reopening of NAFTA June 23, 2008 John McCain's visit to Canada on Friday was a preview of just how important the issue of renegotiating the North American free-trade agreement will be in this fall's U.S. presidential election. The prospect of a Barack Obama presidency has sparked a lot of "will he or won't he" worry in Canada. You can feel the fear of the business-as-usual crowd trying to reassure themselves that Mr. Obama won't really reopen NAFTA. (more...) Canadians Reject McCain's NAFTA Plea - Continental Movement for Renegotiation Grows June 20, 2008 On Friday, June 20, the Council of Canadians held a mock press conference and protest outside Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier, where Republican Senator John McCain spoke to an elite audience of Canadian corporate executives about the benefits of NAFTA. (more...) North American Forum 2008 agenda released June 19, 2008 Teresa Healy, a researcher with the Canadian Labour Congress, has acquired the agenda for the 2008 North American Forum (NAF), which took place in Washington, D.C. this week, bringing together 75 personally invited policymakers and business leaders to discuss North American integration behind closed doors. (more...) Civil liberties coalition launches website to monitor government abuse of terrorist watchlists The following press release is taken from www.travelwatchlist.ca, a research project led by the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group and its partners to document incidents where travellers have been unfairly targetted by government watchlists in Canada and the United States. (more...) Where is Michael Wilson's North American Forum speech? June 18, 2008 It took over a year for Stockwell Day to release the speech he gave to the invite-only North American Forum (NAF) in Banff Springs, Alberta in September 2006. Will we have to wait as long to see what Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson told this year’s private event in Washington? (more...) June 17, 2008 Michael Geist writes in today's Ottawa Citizen that in its pressure on the Canadian government to change our copyright laws, the U.S. administration made threats about “thickening the border” if it didn’t get its way. (more...) The Future of Mexico's Oil: Social action to stop the energy grab! June 17, 2008 In Mexico, as in the U.S. and Canada, citizens and democrats wish to “close the revolving door between the executive branch and K street (corporate) lobbying …” Mexicans are currently mobilizing to stop the deeply undemocratic practice of lobbyists [writing] national policies. (more...) Canadian ambassador to address fourth annual North American Forum in Washington June 17, 2008 Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Wilson, will address the secretive invite-only North American Forum gathering today (June 17, 8:30 a.m.), according to a press release from the World Affairs Council forwarded to Integrate This! by Teresa Healy of the Canadian Labour Congress. (more...) Alberta can’t handle tar sands expansion, says new report June 16, 2008 A new report out of Alberta today says the province “should not approve more oilsands upgraders near Edmonton until the province has a solid plan to limit the huge volume of fresh water they will use and to better manage the pollution they will produce,” according to CTV. (more...) Plan to allow airlines to police themselves should not be allowed to fly June 13, 2008 The web news resource PublicValues.ca focuses this week on the issue of airline safety, an area of public policy set to be harmonized across the continent through the Security and Prosperity Partnership. (more...) Prentice releases “made in America” copyright legislation; only business groups happy June 13, 2008 It received praise from the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the music and film industries, and other business groups, but Jim Prentice’s new copyright legislation, which he tabled this week in the House of Commons, is getting the thumbs down from musicians, privacy advocates and consumer groups. (more...) McCain to dine and whine about NAFTA in Ottawa June 13, 2008 Republican Senator John McCain, the man who may be George Bush’s successor in the White House, wants to speak in Canada about free trade. But it doesn’t appear that he’ll be speaking to Canadians – not directly at least – but rather to an elite audience of some 350 business leaders and policy makers in Ottawa. (more...) Canada, Mexico and U.S. governments continue SPP transportation talks in Meech Lake June 12, 2008 Transport ministers from Canada, the United States and Mexico met in Ottawa and Meech Lake this week “to explore future enhancements to North America's transportation system and shared perspectives on the challenges of infrastructure renewal,” according to a Transport Canada press release on Tuesday. (more...) Canada’s beef industry wants to adopt weaker U.S. feed ban rules June 4, 2008 According to a Canadian Press article this week, Canada’s beef industry is pressuring the Canadian government to adopt weaker U.S. feed ban rules. (more...) Ontario working on provincial ID card with Homeland Security approval June 4, 2008 Mere weeks after learning that Quebec will be producing “enhanced driver’s licences” (EDLs) by years end to cooperate with U.S. border security demands, Canadian Press reports this week that Ontario will offer similar provincial ID cards for non drivers. (more...) June 4, 2008 Quebec Premier Jean Charest will give the closing address to the 2008 NASCO conference starting today in Guanajuato, central Mexico, and is expected to describe his vision for continental economic integration, according to La Presse canadienne today. Manitoba Premier Gary Doer will give an opening address to the conference, giving the annual meeting to discuss North American trade corridors a distinctly Canadian feel. (more...) June 2, 2008 According to the Montreal Gazette today, “While Quebec's privacy commission is being kept in the dark on a proposed enhanced driver’s licence (EDL), or Permis de conduire plus, Ontario’s Information and Privacy commissioner, who has been part of the EDL process in that province since 2006, is calling a public forum on the issue for July 16.” (more...) NAFTA+ business plans hurting Mexican workers, says journalist June 2, 2008 An essay in the Fort Worth, Texas Star-Telegram this weekend by Mexican journalist Anne Vigna describes the impact NAFTA has had on workers in her country. While uglier than Canada’s free-trade history with the United States, the reality is similar in many ways. (more...) Does Ignatieff support a Canadian energy strategy? June 2, 2008 In his Globe and Mail column today, Lawrence Martin asks how much sense it makes that “energy-abundant” Canada imports 40 per cent of its oil from foreign markets. He also reports that Liberal Michael Ignatieff is wondering the same thing. (more...) NORTHCOM, Canada Command release fraction of new Canada-U.S. military pact May 30, 2008 US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) has posted portions of a Civil Assistance Plan, signed with Canada Command on February 14, to its website, although it appears to be missing as many as 23 annexes – there is reference to an Annex W – that are still classified. (more...) Life, Liberty, Water: An article in Yes! Magazine by Maude Barlow May 28, 2008 As climate change and worldwide shortages loom, will people fight over water or join together to protect it? A global water justice movement is demanding a change in international law to settle once and for all the question of who controls water. (more...) Canada ducks for cover on copyright; plans to sign ACTA without parliamentary approval May 28, 2008 Canada is under significant pressure from the U.S. government and the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), among other business groups, to reform its copyright legislation. International documents leaked to the press last week indicate that the Harper government is preparing to sidestep Parliament by signing a NAFTA-like international treaty that would radically change what types of currently legal activity will be cracked down on and by whom. (more...) Quebec to become third province to offer enhanced driver’s licences May 22, 2008 According to an article in the Montreal Gazette last weekend, SPP-linked enhanced driver’s licences (EDLs), “raise the spectre of multiple databases carrying surprising amounts of information on citizens.” (more...) U.S. environmentalist Robert Kennedy again warns Canada about bulk water exports May 23, 2008 U.S. environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr. is again warning Canada that the U.S. is thirsty for northern water, and he’s urging Canadians to pressure the government to enact tougher laws banning bulk water removals. (more...) Canada doing the "dirty work" for the U.S. at cluster bomb talks, says Jody Williams May 23, 2008 Jody Williams, the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, writes in the Globe and Mail today that, "At the current 12-day conference to negotiate an international treaty banning cluster munitions, diplomats and observers alike are wondering what has happened to Canada's independence (because Canada) now appears to be doing the dirty work for the United States to weaken the cluster munitions treaty (now being negotiated in Dublin)." (more...) Vancouver Olympics to be “the largest security operation in Canadian history” May 22, 2008 We know from SPP documents that Olympic security for the 2010 Whistler Games is being coordinated with Mexican and U.S. military forces. This week, the National Post reported that the Canadian Forces will be there with tanks and other goodies. (more...) May 22, 2008 A Canada West Foundation poll, which was reported in some newspapers as indicating Canadian support for eliminating so-called inter-provincial trade barriers, reveals distaste in western Canada for the negative impacts of international free trade agreements. (more...) May 6, 2008 Harper talks a good line on food safety but his actions prove he cares less about your health than corporate priorities. As reported by Greenpeace Canada on Thursday: “A private member’s bill giving consumers the right to know if the food sold in Canada contains genetically engineered (GE) ingredients was defeated in the House of Commons today by a vote of 101 to 156." (more...) Children’s rights groups ask Harper to reconsider his stance on the repatriation of Omar Khadr May 13, 2008 The International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association and a group of organizations dedicated to the protection of the rights of the child have sent a letter to Stephen Harper calling on the Canadian government “to intervene immediately in the case of Omar Khadr and request his repatriation to Canada without further delay.” (more...) Prentice tries to reconcile “security” and “prosperity” at Council of the Americas annual meeting May 9, 2008 On May 7, Industry Minister Jim Prentice, who is also the minister responsible for pipelines, was in Washington to address the 38th Council of the Americas Annual Meeting. This is the group that acts as the U.S. co-secretariat, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC). (more...) Questions about military cooperation pact with U.S. still unanswered May 8, 2008 Since the story broke this February that the Canadian Forces had signed a troop-sharing agreement with the U.S. army for cross-border disasters and other incidents, Canadians have been asking questions of the government but getting little information in response. (more...) U.S., industry and NACC push to change Canada’s copyright laws continue May 8, 2008 Industry Minister Jim Prentice will table a new copyright law at the end of the month that is expected to ape what critics call overly restrictive U.S. intellectual property policy. While the rule changes have been in the pipes since the Paul Martin Liberal days, the industry push to have them enacted has only strengthened with the Security and Prosperity Partnership. (more...) May 8, 2008 The Natural Resources Defense Council sent a letter to U.S. Senators this week urging them to oppose amendments to the 2008 National Defense Authorization Bill that would repeal a major environmental initiative to ban the purchase of dirty fuel from sources like Alberta’s tar sands. (more...) The SPP keeps U.S. tanks full – an op-ed by the Council of Canadian May 7, 2008 The following op-ed by Brent Patterson, director of campaigns and organizing with the Council of Canadians, appeared in today’s Windsor Star: (more...) May 6, 2008 A key initiative within the Security and Prosperity Partnership calls for the, "Identification and appropriate adoption of best practices in maintaining the safety, efficacy and quality of pharmaceutical products." (more...) “Plan Mexico” counter-productive and militaristic, says new report tying it to the SPP May 6, 2008 While Canada has its own bad security deals with the United States – joint no-fly lists, common biometric ID cards, cooperation with a draconian detention and deportation system for migrants – U.S. Congress is about to authorize a doozy with Mexico that has critics sounding alarm bells. (more...) Dead birds and water shortages in boomtown Alberta May 2, 2008 By now the whole world knows about the 500 ducks that died after landing in one of Syncrude’s toxic tailing ponds in Northern Alberta. The tragedy occurred just after the province had put aside $25 million in public relations cash to convince the White House that tar sands crude was environmentally friendly. (more...) NAFTA’s legacy? Census data shows widening income gap despite promises of continental integration May 2, 2008 Last week, at the close of the fourth SPP summit in New Orleans, Prime Minister Harper issued a joint statement with Presidents Bush and Calderon that reaffirmed their commitment to the NAFTA trading model despite fresh criticism of free trade in all three countries. (more...) Nothing new from the Disaster Summit but dangerous SPP initiatives live on April 29, 2008 The media and business consensus following last week’s Security and Prosperity Partnership summit in New Orleans is that the trilateral meeting didn’t produce anything significant. While this is partly correct – no new initiatives were announced – the ones we’re stuck with are bad enough. And while we learned a few new things about the SPP’s progress since Montebello, very few of the details ended up in the news. (more...) Harper out of batteries on energy issues April 24, 2008 At the end of this week’s Security and Prosperity Partnership Summit in New Orleans, Prime Minister Harper said that, "Canada really is confident that the next President will also understand the importance of NAFTA, and the importance of the commercial relationship between the United States and Canada.” (more...) U.S. states may seek Great Lakes water April 24, 2008 As reported by Michael Oliveira of the Canadian Press yesterday, “Parched U.S. states could start ‘water wars’ in the years ahead and fight for access to Great Lakes resources as they become more desperate to meet growing needs, Canadian and American experts said Wednesday at a water conference.” (more...) "Don't leave us!" begs NACC, "Don't worry," respond Bush, Harper and Calderon April 22, 2008 Oh what a depressing summit this was for the North American Competitiveness Council. Like last August, the all-corporate advisory body to the SPP has just tabled a "report to leaders" outlining its hopes and dreams for continental integration in 2008. Unlike last year, there's nothing new in this one beyond a sense of desperation that, for all the CEOs have achieved in public policy setting, the SPP's days are numbered. (more...) Joint statement by Three Amigos speaks for itself April 22, 2008 Highlights from the 'Joint Statement by President Bush, President Calderon, Prime Minister Harper'. (more...) Tour of New Orleans shows widespread government neglect April 21, 2008 Standing on old concrete foundations buried in overgrowth, it was hard to believe the expanses of green dotted with unused houses used to be a thriving community. But that was before Hurricane Katrina hit in the summer of 2005. Reconstruction in the Lower Ninth Ward has been slow to non-existent. (more...) CNN Coverage of the SPP Summit in New Orleans, featuring Maude Barlow April 21, 2008, in New Orleans (more...) Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians, talks with CTV NewsNetApril 21, 2008, in New Orleans (more...) People’s Summit off to a dramatic and energetic start April 21, 2008 As barricades went up in parts of New Orleans' business district yesterday to protect the SPP meeting from scrutiny, two very different meetings were taking place close by. (more...) "High priests" of deep integration working on new post-SPP agreement with government April 21, 2008 We saw it coming but now it looks conclusive: Canada's deep integration nuts are working on a post-SPP agreement that will strike Mexico out of the equation. (more...) Amnesty International slams SPP secrecy in letter to Bush, Calderon and Harper April 21, 2008 Amnesty International has sent Prime Minister Harper and his U.S. and Mexican counterparts a letter condemning the secrecy behind the SPP and demanding that it be brought to each country's respective legislatures “to facilitate meaningful public debate.” (more...) The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), Round Four April 16, 2008 As the NAFTA leaders and their big business counterparts gather in New Orleans a few days from now for the fourth North American Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) summit, it is worth reflecting on its role in North American integration. (more...) CEP files official complaint against “agents provocateurs” in Montebello April 16, 2008 Dave Coles, the CEP president who unmasked a police officer posing as a rock-wielding protestor at Montebello last August, has filed an official complaint with the Police Ethics Commissioner about the use of agents provocateurs by the Sureté de Québéc. (more...) Is the tar sands’ water supply protected by NAFTA? April 16, 2008 Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, is warning Albertans that the government “could be forced to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to foreign-owned oilsands companies under NAFTA if a drought forced the province to ration water,” according to an article in the Edmonton Journal. (more...) NACC member Chevron moves in on Mexico’s public oil and gas sector April 10, 2008 Chevron Corp, a member of the North American Competitiveness Council, has “submitted proposals to tap oil and natural-gas reserves in Mexico amid declining output from the second-biggest crude-producing nation in the Western Hemisphere,” according to Bloomberg this week. (more...)
April 10, 2008 Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff met with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day in Ottawa this week to discuss progress on the Security and Prosperity Partnership. (more...)
April 9, 2008 The group No One Is Illegal has issued an action alert asking citizens to contact their MPs (particularly Liberal MPs) to urge them to vote no to a series of amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). (more...)
April 9, 2008 This month, President Bush will host the leaders of Canada and Mexico to advance the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), a project Lou Dobbs has predicted will "end the United States as we know it." (more...)
April 8, 2008 Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier met with his counterparts, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa, in Washington, D.C. today “to prepare the work for a leaders meeting that will take place in New Orleans,” according to a statement. (more...)
April 8, 2008 Prime Minister Harper’s stubborn refusal to save Omar Khadr from the injustice of a Guantanamo Bay show trial became even harder to grasp today as we learned that Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier has agreed the process is unlawful. (more...)
April 7, 2008 There appears to be an elite consensus forming around a C.D. Howe Institute proposal to ditch the trilateral SPP model for a more meaningful bilateral trade agreement with the United States. (more...)
April 4, 2008 With three weeks to go until the Security and Prosperity Partnership leaders summit in New Orleans, the usual suspects have launched a barrage of policy papers to try and sway the public agenda towards even deeper economic and security integration than has been proposed to date. Meanwhile, International Trade Minister David Emerson has gathered the provinces to develop a consensus on Canada’s NAFTA position should the United States force a renegotiation after the November presidential election. (more...)
March 28, 2008 Prompted by an interview with the Minister of Industry, Jim Prentice, about the workings of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, Hélène Buzzetti published an article last week in Le Devoir (March 22-23) entitled, “Adieux aux promesses de Montbello” (‘Kiss Montebello promises good-bye’). (more...)
March 27, 2008 The extent of Canadian government complicity in torture, partly exposed during the Maher Arar Commission over the past two years, is becoming even more apparent with the U.S. show trial of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr. (more...)
March 20, 2008 “The federal Conservatives are moving to give the Immigration Minister more power to control the number and type of people allowed into the country – and the speed with which they are welcomed here,” wrote the Globe and Mail on March 15. (more...)
March 20, 2008 The Department of Public Safety is reporting today that a joint RCMP-Homeland Security pilot project, which put U.S. security agents on Canadian maritime patrols and vice versa, will be made permanent. (more...)
March 20, 2008 According to an NDP press release last week, elected representatives in all three NAFTA countries “have agreed to file simultaneous legislative motions to stop further implementation of the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) process, imposed undemocratically on our three nations, and to open up the process that has taken place behind closed doors to instead have a transparent review and scrutiny within their respective legislatures.” (more...) March 18, 2008 In an effort to demonstrate that the best defence is a good offence, a new Fraser Institute report by Alex Moens and Michael Cust, argues that the Canadian government must “expand and speed up the SPP goals,” and make a priority of “rebranding the SPP talks… as well as explaining the specific objective of the talks to the public” at the next summit in New Orleans this April or risk the trilateral partnership losing much of its momentum. (more...)
March 18, 2008 More evidence today that the business-friendly SPP (like NAFTA, upon which it is built) poses an increasing risk to global as well as continental public interest policy. (more...)
|
|||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
 |
NACC
Workers
Water
Energy
Security & civil liberties
Military
Safety & regulations
Transportation corridors
