According to a US Department of State calendar, the next North American Leaders summit will take place from August 8 to 11 in Mexico.
The Council of Canadians will be organizing around this event, with plans for a short report on the damage inflicted by the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, a web-action that allows Canadians to voice their concerns about the agenda to be discussed at this summit, and a presence outside the summit itself.
The US State Department notation of the dates is at http://www.state.gov/e/eeb/cip/120719.htm. We can find no reference to these dates on either the Canadian government’s Security and Prosperity Partnership website at http://www.spp-psp.gc.ca/eic/site/spp-psp.nsf/eng/home or at the Department of Foreign Affairs website at http://www.international.gc.ca/international/index.aspx.
In February 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama wrote in the Dallas Morning News that, “Starting my first year in office, I will convene annual meetings with Mr. Calderon and the prime minister of Canada. Unlike similar summits under President Bush, these will be conducted with a level of transparency that represents the close ties among our three countries. We will seek the active and open involvement of citizens, labor, the private sector and non-governmental organizations in setting the agenda and making progress.”
With the summit less than six weeks away, and no formal announcement about it yet, we question the commitment of all governments to transparency and accountability for this meeting.
Obama’s comments are at http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-obama_20edi.ART.State.Edition1.464da8e.html.
For Council of Canadians analysis on past summits, please go to www.IntegrateThis.ca.
Thanks to BC-Yukon organizer Harjap Grewal for his digging and finding of the US State Department calendar.
More to come.
