The S.P.P. seeks to affect you, our communities and country by:
- Securing U.S. control of our water and resources
- Lowering working standards and wages
- Endorsing U.S. foreign policies, wars & security measures
- Harmonizing regulations to hurt our health, food & environment
STOP THE S.P.P. – WHAT YOU CAN DO!
Public support to stop the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America is growing. We need to broaden the circle of concern among Canadians.
What can you do to help to make a positive difference? Plenty! You have influence in your community, you have family and friends. You belong to groups and organizations.
GET INFORMED
Before you can effectively promote to others, you need to understand what it is, why it exists and why you feel it is important.
Below are some websites to help you and your neighbours stay informed.
http://www.peterjulian.ca/category/id/16/all
http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/Campaigns/fact_sheets.html
http://canadianlabour.ca/index.php/thealy_en/1282
http://canadians.org/integratethis/index.html
Working with your local organizations, help organize public forums with a panel discussion on SPP with members of your community, include a question-and-answer session; organize community picnics with your neighbours to help ensure that your community is getting informed and that they have their say on the SPP.
SIGN THE PETITION – AND GET OTHERS TO SIGN ON TOO
Please call 250-365-2792 or 1-800-667-2393 to obtain a copy(ies) of the petition form. Then get the support of your friends, neighbours, people you work with and get them to sign the petition. When you have as many signatures as you can get, mail the petition (postage free) to Alex Atamanenko, MPs Office in Ottawa.
Download the petition [DOC - 52kb]
WRITE A LETTER OF SUPPORT
You and/or your organization are invited to write a letter of support about this issue and send it to Alex Atamanenko’s office with a copy to Peter Julian, the Federal NDP Critic for International Trade, c/o House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6.
You are also invited to write to:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper: pm@pm.gc.ca
Stephane Dion: Dion.S@parl.gc.ca ,
Jack Layton: Layton.J@parl.gc.ca and
Gilles Duceppe: Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca
expressing your grave concerns on this issue.
THE SECURITY AND PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP – BACKGROUND:
The SPP will have profound consequences on Canada’s existence as a sovereign nation and it’s ability to adopt autonomous and sustainable economic, social, and environmental policies. The NDP challenges the Harper government’s assumptions of prosperity which have led to increasing disparities of wealth and power in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
The NDP is spearheading the call for a transparent and accountable public consultation process, parliamentary debate and vote on the SPP agenda in the House of Commons. In Parliament, with the full support of Jack Layton and the entire NDP caucus, NDP Trade Critic Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) is succeeding in exposing the push by stealth for deep integration under both the Liberal and Conservative governments.
Peter Julian hosted the second Tri-National Forum for a People-Centred Approach to
Trade in Ottawa on June 5, 2006, which included legislators and civil society representatives from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. He has filed a number of Access to Information requests with regards to the SPP and has succeeded in holding the first ever parliamentary hearings on the SPP at the Standing Committee on International Trade last spring. We are starting to expose this agenda but this is the first step in what will be a long struggle so we will need your support.
On August 2, 2007, the NDP launched its national tour to halt further implementation of the SPP agenda. We have been holding public forums to speak out on the SPP, and to ensure everyday Canadians get informed and have their say. Labour Unions and civil society organizations share the NDP’s call to the Harper government to halt to stop further implementation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) with the United States and Mexico until there is a democratic mandate from the people of Canada, Parliamentary oversight, and consideration of its profound consequences on Canada’s existence as a sovereign nation and its ability to adopt autonomous and sustainable economic, social, and environmental policies, and urge the Government of Canada to conduct a transparent and accountable public debate of the SPP process, involving meaningful public consultations with civil society and a full legislative review, including the work, recommendations, and reports of all SPP working groups, and a full debate and a vote in Parliament.
Stops to date have included: Halifax, Fredericton, Sault-Ste.Marie, Moosejaw, Regina, Hamilton, Kamloops, Victoria, and Winnipeg. Peter will be holding many more, including stops in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and various parts of BC, including a forum in Burnaby-New Westminster, Vancouver Island and the West Kootenay in January 2008.
Below, please find Peter Julian’s Questions to the Standing Committee on International Trade, submitted for Parliament for a second time October 16th, following the prorogation of the House of Commons at the beginning of the Fall Session.
The NDP will continue to push for a people-centred fair and ethical trade model for Canada. The stronger the participation from people across Canada, the stronger our voice will be in working to protect Canada and its peoples.
QUESTIONS TO THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE:
Q-2282 — May 30, 2007 (Resubmitted Oct 16, 2007)
Mr. Julian (Burnaby—New Westminster)
— With respect to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP):
- when did unofficial negotiations on the SPP agenda begin prior to March 2005 and which Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and government departments were involved;
- which Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and branches of which departments are tasked with developing and implementing strategies to advance the SPP agenda;
- how often do meetings transpire between Ministers or Deputy Ministers and members of the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), what were the dates and locations of these meetings, who was present at each one of these meetings and what were the topics of discussion at each meeting;
- what financial resources are estimated to be required to adequately fulfill the SPP on an annual basis;
- how much money has the government committed to the SPP in the last five years;
- were these funding announcements made public, and, if so, on what dates were these funding announcements made;
- of these funds, what amount has actually been disbursed annually, and from which government department budget were these funds disbursed;
- how many person-hours in government departments are dedicated to advancing the agenda of the SPP, working groups included;
- has an intranet system been establish to facilitate day-to-day communications between participating countries and the NACC;
- what is the relationship between NAFTA and the SPP;
- is the SPP considered an extension of NAFTA;
- have NAFTA committees been folded into the SPP groups and, if so, why and how;
what is the most up-to-date impact assessment of SPP negotiations on Canadian regulations and standards in:- health,
- food, food products and food safety,
- transport safety,
- privacy,
- energy,
- water,
- natural resources,
- chemical products, including pesticides and herbicides,
- financial services and monetary policy,
- border security,
- outsourcing and jobs,
- the environment,
- electronic trade,
- the process of building up and maintaining Canada’s no-fly list;
- what is the status of these negotiations, have some been suspended, and if some have been completed, what regulations were changed as a result;
- how would those negotiations affect Canada’s public policy space;
- are any mutual recognition agreements being negotiated under the SPP;
- what are all the SPP working groups, their focus, the members of these working groups (including members of the government and civil service), and the minutes of their meetings;
- is it the position of the government that the SPP is beneficial to Canadian sovereignty;
- what plans does the government have to conduct a public debate of the SPP process, including public consultations with civil society groups, a full legislative review, and a vote in Parliament; and
- what plans does the government have to brief Parliamentarians on the SPP, if not, why not, and, if so, how regular will such briefings be?
Tags: SPP