In looking at comments on articles about Montebello I find that many of them are opposed to the protesters and also think that a meeting restricted to the leaders and business executives is just fine. They also say there is nothing secret about the meetings! Well even the full agenda has not been released. You can find lists of who the executives are but of course the news media themselves cannot be bothered to comment upon or post the lists as far as I can discern.
Campbell here outlines some of the reasons we should be worried about the talks.
Why we should worry about the Montebello talks
Posted: August 20, 2007
Bruce Campbell, August 20, 2007, The Chronicle Herald -- The term SPP is likely to draw blank stares from most Canadians, though hopefully that will begin to change after the upcoming summit of North American leaders – George Bush, Felipe Calderon and Stephen Harper – in Montebello, Que. The North American Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) was launched by the three NAFTA countries in March 2005. This is their third meeting, and the first held in Canada.
The SPP is the successor to the 1994 NAFTA, the next stage on the path to fully integrate the North American economy along the lines advocated by business and political elites. It is a NAFTA-plus initiative, but with several differences.
First, the SPP fuses economic integration and security integration, reflecting the reality of the post-Sept. 11 U.S. security paradigm.
Second, unlike NAFTA, the SPP it is not a treaty; it is an executive-to-executive agreement. It requires no legislative change, hence minimal parliamentary involvement, and thus is proceeding largely out of the public eye. Civil society organizations are excluded. But business, remarkably, has secured a privileged place for itself at the SPP table, with the creation a year ago of the North American Competitiveness Council. The NACC gives big business a hand on the wheel driving the SPP agenda.
Third, the SPP is an umbrella for a dizzying array of projects: Some appear benign and others disturbing. However, because the public reporting on SPP initiatives is so devoid of substance, it is difficult to figure out which is which.
Here are three of the 300 SPP initiatives that raise alarm bells for me.
•Passenger "no fly" lists: In June, Canada’s "no-fly" list came into effect, part of a broader agenda of security measures negotiated under the SPP. The list is rife with potential for abuse – blacklisting innocent people, racial profiling, invasion of privacy, use of false information and faulty criteria for judging high-risk travellers – to name a few.
Canada’s list will almost certainly merge with the much larger U.S. "no-fly" list, with major negative implications for civil liberties. The Arar commission found that the RCMP, through its intelligence-sharing practices, was complicit in the rendition and torture of Canadian citizens in violation of international law. Maher Arar has still not been taken off the U.S. terrorist watch list.
The commission recommended a strong review mechanism to protect against civil-liberties and racial-profiling abuses. There is no evidence that these issues are being addressed under the SPP. As far as we know, the potential for continued Canadian complicity is still there. The U.S. remains a rogue state, which has systematically violated the Geneva Conventions on torture and rendition, recently codifying these practices in the notorious Military Commissions Act. The Harper government has not raised its voice publicly against U.S. abuses. What it is it doing at the SPP table?
•Domestic processing of oil: Energy security, especially oil, is a top priority for the United States, and the Harper government is eager to oblige by facilitating the rapid expansion of Alberta oilsands production for export south. This raises huge environmental and Canadian energy security issues.
But set these aside for the moment. Among the energy accomplishments cited by the leaders at their 2006 meeting was a pipeline agreement that would lead, they said, to a uniform regulatory approach for cross-border pipelines. Recently, the three energy ministers met to prepare for the Montebello meeting. They talked about cutting red tape (read: deregulation) for various planned pipelines that would take tarsands bitumen to the U.S. for processing.
This comes as the National Energy Board is holding hearings on the first of these proposals, the Keystone pipeline. U.S. multinational ConocoPhillips, a partner in the project, is investing billions in upgrading refineries in the United States to process the raw bitumen. The Communications Energy and Paperworkers union has produced studies showing that 18,000 jobs – that would otherwise be created by processing in Canada – will go south. And other studies show that it would discourage future investment in Canadian upgrading facilities.
Will the National Energy Board include employment, investment and domestic value-added criteria in its evaluation of the Keystone pipeline? Will an SPP agreement prevent these issues from being considered? Will we ever know?
•Regulatory harmonization, or regulatory co-operation as it is euphemistically called, is another top priority for business. Leaders have asked their officials to complete a "regulatory framework agreement" in time for the Montebello meeting. This will set the guidelines for many SPP initiatives. It is unlikely that we will see the full framework agreement, and even less so that we will see how it is applied in specific circumstances. Critics believe the government is preparing to weaken Canadian health, safety and environmental regulations and standards in the name of trade.
Let’s take the example of food safety. The SPP’s business council (the NACC) called for the harmonization of Canadian and U.S. lists of toxic substances, which are preventing some U.S. products from being sold in Canada. We also know that an SPP committee is working to resolve differences in pesticide maximum-residue limits. But will we ever know the outcome of these negotiations?
In this case, we do know now, thanks to an astute Ottawa Citizen reporter, who discovered that the Canadian government is in fact planning under the SPP to relax its requirements on pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables entering from the U.S. Some 40 per cent of the pesticides Canada regulates have stricter limits than U.S. regulations. The U.S. sees them as trade barriers and wants the list of priority pesticides to be relaxed. With the Bush administration aggressively dismantling its own regulatory systems, this harmonization concession amounts to Canada importing U.S. deregulation. Will this be the norm or the exception?
The final difference from NAFTA is that the SPP is not a "grand bargain" initiative. It is an incremental process (many steps) with no explicit vision, such as big-business lobbyist Tom d’Aquino’s North American Community. Each step may, or may not, by itself have significant consequences for Canadian policy flexibility. But cumulatively, the negative overall impact on Canadian sovereignty and democracy will be huge. Business’s desire for a seamless continental market requires uniformity across a broad range of policies and regulations. And guess which countries will do the harmonizing?
The key danger is this: SPP agreements progressively shrink Canada’s room to manoeuvre in key policy areas. This is political integration by stealth – something that deep integration proponents vigorously deny. The result is that Canadian sovereignty and democracy over time become increasingly hollow.
Bruce Campbell is executive director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Showing posts with label Montebello. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montebello. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
US report from Montebello
This is from US News. Typically there is zilch about Canada. No mention of the Northwest Passage Issue. Bush re-affirmed his denial of Canadian sovereignty. Apparently the US was wanting to have its narcs work in Mexico but Mexicans worry abouot their sovereignty too. There is no mention of the 30 top business leaders at the meeting. The protests don't merit a mention either. So much for the free press. Free of most significant information.
Tensions Overshadow North American Summit
By Thomas Omestad
Posted 8/21/07
To the Mexicans, it was emblematic of the six-plus years of the Bush administration: As the leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada concluded their summit in Montebello, Canada, on Tuesday, the first question by reporters was not about North American affairs but, rather, about Iraq. The question earned a lengthy, detailed response from President Bush, who defended his handling of the Iraqi government's weakness. But his replies to questions about North America tended to be shorter and more general.
The Bush administration's preoccupation with Iraq and the war on terrorism loomed over the summit, even though it was not the focus of the two-day discussion among the three North American countries at a log-framed resort château on the Ottawa River.
The talks mostly covered border security, economic competitiveness, product safety, environment, and energy. Sovereignty claims over the Arctic, peacekeeping in Afghanistan, and global health issues also came up. And yet, this was a summit hindered by distractions. Hurricane Dean, slamming into Mexican coastal areas, forced President Felipe Calderón to hurry up the meetings and leave Canada earlier than planned. And lurking beneath the surface was continued Mexican disappointment with an administration that took office characterizing the U.S.-Mexican relationship as central to its international agenda. With a border-state politician who speaks some Spanish in the Oval Office, many Mexicans had anticipated a new closeness in the often prickly relations between the two neighbors.
But the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the U.S. campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq all concentrated the administration's energies on countering terrorism and beefing up security rather than forging a more open border—and relationship—with Mexico. Mexico's initially ham-handed reaction to the attacks also served to cool some of the early ardor. "It turned out differently," Peter Hakim, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, said of Mexico's expectations for a warmer relationship with the United States.
This summer Mexican hopes for immigration reform in the United States were also dashed, as Congress blocked a plan promoted by Bush that would have increased border security but also expanded guest-worker programs and ways to gain legal U.S. citizenship. After the legislation died in June, Calderón called the failure a "grave error" that would hurt both the Mexican and the American economies. He also criticized a 700-mile border-security fence being constructed with the support of Bush and Congress.
Though Calderón, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is conservative, the Mexican leader has been careful to limit Mexican expectations of Bush and to focus on pragmatic avenues for cooperation. Says Hakim, "Whatever the disappointments and differences, Mexico wants some things from the United States." Bush offered U.S. help for storm damage.
Contrary to some predictions, a U.S.-Mexican plan to fight narcotrafficking was not finalized at the summit. Mexico, concerned with erosion of sovereignty, does not want U.S. military personnel performing antidrug operations on its soil—operations that have accelerated under Calderón. But the two countries are discussing a package of hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid that might include surveillance technology, training, and higher salaries for law-enforcement officers in Mexico.
"We're working hard to get a plan ready," said Bush. Calderón said Mexico wants more surveillance on the U.S. side of the border in part to halt the flow of high-powered American weapons to violent drug gangs. The eventual plan is likely to face serious opposition in Congress, where skepticism about the value of another antidrug program—Plan Colombia—has been growing.
Leaders of the three countries will convene again next year in Texas.
Tensions Overshadow North American Summit
By Thomas Omestad
Posted 8/21/07
To the Mexicans, it was emblematic of the six-plus years of the Bush administration: As the leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada concluded their summit in Montebello, Canada, on Tuesday, the first question by reporters was not about North American affairs but, rather, about Iraq. The question earned a lengthy, detailed response from President Bush, who defended his handling of the Iraqi government's weakness. But his replies to questions about North America tended to be shorter and more general.
The Bush administration's preoccupation with Iraq and the war on terrorism loomed over the summit, even though it was not the focus of the two-day discussion among the three North American countries at a log-framed resort château on the Ottawa River.
The talks mostly covered border security, economic competitiveness, product safety, environment, and energy. Sovereignty claims over the Arctic, peacekeeping in Afghanistan, and global health issues also came up. And yet, this was a summit hindered by distractions. Hurricane Dean, slamming into Mexican coastal areas, forced President Felipe Calderón to hurry up the meetings and leave Canada earlier than planned. And lurking beneath the surface was continued Mexican disappointment with an administration that took office characterizing the U.S.-Mexican relationship as central to its international agenda. With a border-state politician who speaks some Spanish in the Oval Office, many Mexicans had anticipated a new closeness in the often prickly relations between the two neighbors.
But the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the U.S. campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq all concentrated the administration's energies on countering terrorism and beefing up security rather than forging a more open border—and relationship—with Mexico. Mexico's initially ham-handed reaction to the attacks also served to cool some of the early ardor. "It turned out differently," Peter Hakim, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, said of Mexico's expectations for a warmer relationship with the United States.
This summer Mexican hopes for immigration reform in the United States were also dashed, as Congress blocked a plan promoted by Bush that would have increased border security but also expanded guest-worker programs and ways to gain legal U.S. citizenship. After the legislation died in June, Calderón called the failure a "grave error" that would hurt both the Mexican and the American economies. He also criticized a 700-mile border-security fence being constructed with the support of Bush and Congress.
Though Calderón, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is conservative, the Mexican leader has been careful to limit Mexican expectations of Bush and to focus on pragmatic avenues for cooperation. Says Hakim, "Whatever the disappointments and differences, Mexico wants some things from the United States." Bush offered U.S. help for storm damage.
Contrary to some predictions, a U.S.-Mexican plan to fight narcotrafficking was not finalized at the summit. Mexico, concerned with erosion of sovereignty, does not want U.S. military personnel performing antidrug operations on its soil—operations that have accelerated under Calderón. But the two countries are discussing a package of hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid that might include surveillance technology, training, and higher salaries for law-enforcement officers in Mexico.
"We're working hard to get a plan ready," said Bush. Calderón said Mexico wants more surveillance on the U.S. side of the border in part to halt the flow of high-powered American weapons to violent drug gangs. The eventual plan is likely to face serious opposition in Congress, where skepticism about the value of another antidrug program—Plan Colombia—has been growing.
Leaders of the three countries will convene again next year in Texas.
Friday, August 17, 2007
RCMP cancels 25km security perimeter for SPP
I guess the huge perimeter was regarded as too provocative. However the protesters will be herded into two small areas. This may cause problems. Naturally the protesters will want to overflow and march into the streets. This could cause problems since no doubt police will be surrounding the areas and will arrest people and prevent protest in "unauthorised" areas.
In the Philippines many protesters take the position that restricting rights to where protest can take place is a violation of their rights (with a few exceptions perhaps). Perhaps Canadian (and US) protesters should take a similar view. Another good tactic is to put nuns in the front lines of the protest or some elderly clergy. This tends to cause restraint among the police or at least gives good photo ops for the protesters if it doesn't!
RCMP Cancels 25-km Security Perimeter for SPP in Montebello
Written by Brent Patterson
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
The RCMP has told the Council of Canadians that there will not be a 25-kilometre security perimeter and that Security and Prosperity Partnership opponents will be able to assemble in Montebello for the upcoming leaders summit.
In a new plan approved by the RCMP this past Friday, there will be two areas near the now heavily-fenced Chateau Montebello grounds where people can gather for the two-day summit which will be negotiating political and economic integration between Canada, the United States and Mexico.
We are looking at having Maude Barlow, former Mexican ambassador Gustavo Iruegas, and former US state department official Ann Wright - all opponents of the SPP - speak outside the Chateau Montebello in the early afternoon on Monday, the first day of the summit.
The Council of Canadians will also be negotiating with officials to allow a delegation led by Maude Barlow to deliver more than 10,000 petitions opposing the SPP to the gates of the Chateau Montebello.
Despite the Council's concerns about the limited size of the protest areas, it does appear that the RCMP is backing down from earlier reported plans of checkpoints outside Montebello and the turning away of cars and buses, which we believe would have been contraventions of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
A coalition of groups will be holding an Integrate This! Public forum on Sunday August 19 at 4:00 pm at the University of Ottawa. The forum was originally scheduled to take place in a Papineauville community centre but police prevented the municipality from renting the space to the Council of Canadians. For more information on the public forum, please go to www.integratethis.ca.
Please read the Council of Canadians 'statement on non-violence'.
Brent Patterson
Director of Campaigns / Organizing
The Council of Canadians
700-170 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5V5 Canada
Tel: 1-800-387-7177 x291
www.canadians.org
In the Philippines many protesters take the position that restricting rights to where protest can take place is a violation of their rights (with a few exceptions perhaps). Perhaps Canadian (and US) protesters should take a similar view. Another good tactic is to put nuns in the front lines of the protest or some elderly clergy. This tends to cause restraint among the police or at least gives good photo ops for the protesters if it doesn't!
RCMP Cancels 25-km Security Perimeter for SPP in Montebello
Written by Brent Patterson
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
The RCMP has told the Council of Canadians that there will not be a 25-kilometre security perimeter and that Security and Prosperity Partnership opponents will be able to assemble in Montebello for the upcoming leaders summit.
In a new plan approved by the RCMP this past Friday, there will be two areas near the now heavily-fenced Chateau Montebello grounds where people can gather for the two-day summit which will be negotiating political and economic integration between Canada, the United States and Mexico.
We are looking at having Maude Barlow, former Mexican ambassador Gustavo Iruegas, and former US state department official Ann Wright - all opponents of the SPP - speak outside the Chateau Montebello in the early afternoon on Monday, the first day of the summit.
The Council of Canadians will also be negotiating with officials to allow a delegation led by Maude Barlow to deliver more than 10,000 petitions opposing the SPP to the gates of the Chateau Montebello.
Despite the Council's concerns about the limited size of the protest areas, it does appear that the RCMP is backing down from earlier reported plans of checkpoints outside Montebello and the turning away of cars and buses, which we believe would have been contraventions of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
A coalition of groups will be holding an Integrate This! Public forum on Sunday August 19 at 4:00 pm at the University of Ottawa. The forum was originally scheduled to take place in a Papineauville community centre but police prevented the municipality from renting the space to the Council of Canadians. For more information on the public forum, please go to www.integratethis.ca.
Please read the Council of Canadians 'statement on non-violence'.
Brent Patterson
Director of Campaigns / Organizing
The Council of Canadians
700-170 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5V5 Canada
Tel: 1-800-387-7177 x291
www.canadians.org
Montebello battening down the hatches before summit
The main groups sponsoring the protests are non-violent but who knows who else will be there and also police action can sometimes provoke violence.
Quebec community erects fences before PM’s trilateral summit
Last Updated: Thursday, August 16, 2007 | 8:05 PM ET
CBC News
High fences went up all over Montebello, Que., this week as residents and police braced themselves for a meeting meant to break down barriers between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
U.S. President George W. Bush, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are holding their North American Leaders' Summit in the western Quebec town on Aug. 20 and 21 to discuss the 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership agreement.
A high metal fence encircles the Fairmont Château Montebello, where the meeting will take place.
(CBC) The meeting is expected to draw thousands of protesters opposed to the pact signed between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico in 2005 to boost co-operation on security, trade and public-health issues.
Opponents say the agreement represents an undemocratic process that gives business leaders too much say and ignores the will of the majority on issues such as climate change, the Iraq war and the use of energy resources such as Alberta's tar sands.
In preparation, a three metre metal fence has been erected between the Fairmont Château Montebello where the meeting will take place and the expected chanting, banner waving throngs outside.
Continue Article
Plywood protects 'White House'
Local business owners such as Guy Joanis, owner of Bar Centrale — the only one in town — have been busy building fences of their own.
Guy Joanis, owner of Bar Centrale, said police told him to barricade everything.
(CBC) A new plywood barrier now surrounds the stately, colonnaded building known to locals as "the White House," and a four-metre high replica of the Statue of Liberty that usually stands proudly on the front lawn has been encased in a protective plywood box.
"[We did it] because we're afraid and the policemen told me to barricade everything," Joanis said, adding that police also told him the theme of his bar won't be very popular when Bush is in the neighbourhood.
He plans to shut down his business for three or four days because of next week's summit, which will cost him $10,000 to $15,000.
"You can't take any chances," he said. "We don't know what's gonna happen."
Joanis has built a plywood fence around 'The White House' and a plywood box around a replica of the Statue of Liberty.
(CBC) Jean Ouellet, whose art store is across the street from the Château Montebello's main gate, said he will probably shut down for a few days too.
He said he's afraid if something happens to his property, he won't be compensated, given the circumstances.
Rocks removed
The municipality has taken other measures besides the fence — its workers have removed the rocks from a large floral display near the town hall, following police advice to put away anything that could be used as projectiles by protesters.
Meanwhile, local business owner Michel Gervais said he won't be putting up plywood around his french fry and ice cream stand because he thinks that might provoke the demonstrators.
And he plans to stay open.
"Those protesters are gonna have to eat, and I'll be there for that," he said.
During the summit, police say Highway 148 will be open to regular traffic, but closed to heavy trucks, which will have to go through Ontario.
Other roads may be closed depending on the number of protesters.
Quebec community erects fences before PM’s trilateral summit
Last Updated: Thursday, August 16, 2007 | 8:05 PM ET
CBC News
High fences went up all over Montebello, Que., this week as residents and police braced themselves for a meeting meant to break down barriers between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
U.S. President George W. Bush, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are holding their North American Leaders' Summit in the western Quebec town on Aug. 20 and 21 to discuss the 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership agreement.
A high metal fence encircles the Fairmont Château Montebello, where the meeting will take place.
(CBC) The meeting is expected to draw thousands of protesters opposed to the pact signed between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico in 2005 to boost co-operation on security, trade and public-health issues.
Opponents say the agreement represents an undemocratic process that gives business leaders too much say and ignores the will of the majority on issues such as climate change, the Iraq war and the use of energy resources such as Alberta's tar sands.
In preparation, a three metre metal fence has been erected between the Fairmont Château Montebello where the meeting will take place and the expected chanting, banner waving throngs outside.
Continue Article
Plywood protects 'White House'
Local business owners such as Guy Joanis, owner of Bar Centrale — the only one in town — have been busy building fences of their own.
Guy Joanis, owner of Bar Centrale, said police told him to barricade everything.
(CBC) A new plywood barrier now surrounds the stately, colonnaded building known to locals as "the White House," and a four-metre high replica of the Statue of Liberty that usually stands proudly on the front lawn has been encased in a protective plywood box.
"[We did it] because we're afraid and the policemen told me to barricade everything," Joanis said, adding that police also told him the theme of his bar won't be very popular when Bush is in the neighbourhood.
He plans to shut down his business for three or four days because of next week's summit, which will cost him $10,000 to $15,000.
"You can't take any chances," he said. "We don't know what's gonna happen."
Joanis has built a plywood fence around 'The White House' and a plywood box around a replica of the Statue of Liberty.
(CBC) Jean Ouellet, whose art store is across the street from the Château Montebello's main gate, said he will probably shut down for a few days too.
He said he's afraid if something happens to his property, he won't be compensated, given the circumstances.
Rocks removed
The municipality has taken other measures besides the fence — its workers have removed the rocks from a large floral display near the town hall, following police advice to put away anything that could be used as projectiles by protesters.
Meanwhile, local business owner Michel Gervais said he won't be putting up plywood around his french fry and ice cream stand because he thinks that might provoke the demonstrators.
And he plans to stay open.
"Those protesters are gonna have to eat, and I'll be there for that," he said.
During the summit, police say Highway 148 will be open to regular traffic, but closed to heavy trucks, which will have to go through Ontario.
Other roads may be closed depending on the number of protesters.
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