"Three Amigos," Summit. - “NAFTA on steroids” - Meeting in Montebello, Quebec, Aug. 20-21

[Breeze54]

http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml">Bush, Harper and Calderon meeting in Montebello, Quebec - Scrap the SPP!

From August 20-21, 2007, George Bush (President of the USA), Stephen Harper (Prime Minister of Canada) and
Felipe Calderon (President of Mexico) will be in Montebello, Quebec, just 90 minutes from Montreal.

They are meeting at the Chateau Montebello, as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), also
known as the "Three Amigos," Summit. They claim to be talking about security and prosperity, but many critics
are calling the SPP “NAFTA on steroids”.

The People’s Global Action Bloc (PGA-Bloc) is a coalition of various anti-capitalist groups from Montreal,
Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, and Vancouver who will be organizing actions in Montebello and across Canada
from August 19-21 to show their resistance to the SPP.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) was founded in March 2005
at a
summit of the Heads of State of Canada, the US, and Mexico. SPP is not an official treaty;
it is
not an official law; rather, it is being presented as a vague 'diaologue based on shared values'.

The North American Forum sponsored one of the various secretive meetings in Sept 2006 in Banff Springs,
Alberta, Canada. When asked by the media if he was in attendance, Stockwell Day (Public Safety Minister
of Canada) refused to confirm he was there, but said that even if he was, it was
a "private"
meeting that he would not comment on.

The SPP is a NAFTA-plus-Homeland-Security model. The founding premise of the SPP is that an agenda
of economic
free trade and national security will result in human prosperity. Yet opponents of the
SPP claim
that the so-called "prosperity" of previous free trade agreements such as NAFTA have only
brought
corporate prosperity, with increasing rates of poverty and displacement for the majority of people.

The People’s Global Action Bloc (PGA Bloc) has called for 3 days of actions to disrupt the SPP
summit
in Montebello. August 19th will be a day of creative resistance and popular education
against
the SPP in the Montebello area. August 20th will be the day of disruption of the SPP
summit,
beginning at noon in Montebello, and continuing through until August 21.

Parallel to the demonstrations, there will also be a self-managed protest camp just outside of Montebello
in the village of Notre Dame de la Paix. The Camp is an open collective life zone
fostering
reflection and creation in order to allow committed individuals and groups to bring
their
actions together for the development of a society based on solidarity. (www.uncampement.net)

The Ottawa based Stop the SPP coalition, as well as the Council of Canadians, also plan on
holding
family-friendly demonstrations in Montebello on August 20. (www.stopspp.ca)

==> WHO IS BEHIND THE SPP?

"No item - not Canadian water, not Mexican oil, not American anti-dumping laws - "is off the table"; rather,
contentious or intractable issues will simply require more time to ripen politically."
- Leaked Minutes of a 2004 meeting of the Task Force on the Future of North America

The North American Competitiveness Council (NACC) was launched as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership
(SPP) in June 2006. It is the only formal advisory board to the SPP and is made up of 30 corporate leaders
from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico with ten advisors from each of the SPP signatory states.

Minutes from a January 10, 2006 tri-national Public-Private Sector Dialogue on the Security and Prosperity
Partnership" reveal exactly why the NACC was created - to "engage substantively and pragmatically on trade and
security issues without undue deference to political sensitivities."
A September
13, 2006 story in Maclean's magazine describes NACC as a "cherrypicked group of
executives
who were whisked to Cancun in March by the leaders of Canada, the U.S.
and Mexico,
and asked to come up with a plan for taking North American integration beyond NAFTA."

The NACC has become the concrete reality emerging from proposals by corporate think-tanks such the Canadian
Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Consejo Mexicano De Asuntos
Internacionels (COMEXI) to have a trilateral corporate body which would advise
the three
governments on issues ranging from military integration to securing energy resources to controlling migration.

In Canada, the CCE is a CEO organization whose corporations administer in excess of C$2.1 trillion in assets.
In January 2003, CCCE launched its North American Security and Prosperity Initiative to increase investment
and capital flows, integrate security agreements and military defence, and expedited means of resource
(oil, natural gas, water, forest products) extraction. This has essentially become the template for the SPP.
In short, the NACC, representing private corporate interests, has been "institutionalized" as a policy-making
body, thus formalizing and deepening the existing patterns of influence that corporations already have.

Related links:
PGA-Bloc (www.psp-spp.com)
Stop the SPP Coalition, Ottawa (www.stopspp.ca)
Block the Empire Montreal (www.blocktheempire.blogspot.com)
People’s Global Action (www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp)
IMC Montebello (www.imc-montebello.org)
CKUT community radio, Montreal (www.ckut.ca)
Centre des Medias Alternatives du Quebec (www.cmaq.net)

[RB TexLa]

1. Here they come!

[Breeze54]

2. But, is that a Rolls Royce helicopter?

:P

Sneaky bastards!

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Ottawa cop at SPP protest - his job is protecting the "establishment".

There they are, all trussed and gussied up with guns, tasers, and bullet proof vests, trying their best to see us all as terrorists, and pumped for action against unarmed protesters, none of whom did anything worse than write "shame" and "stop the SPP" in chalk on concrete.

So hyped were these officers that they lost their heads and left their stations where they were presumably supposed to be guarding the entrance to the hotel from terrorist invaders, and ran through the crowd like maniacs on a life or death mission - all to grab a piece of chalk.

"Do you know you almost knocked me off my feet," I asked of the burly officer. "That's not my problem," he replied. I asked if he knew what the SPP was and why the people were protesting. "I don't care," he replied. He said those exact words. He said he was doing his job and it was against the law to make chalk marks on other people's property.

SNIP

"Do you feel good doing this?" I asked the burly officer. He said "I feel great. I'm doing my job and it's my job to protect the establishment." Again, his exact words. He meant, I suppose, the building, but when I repeated what he had said he seemed suddenly bemused, suggesting that he had indeed grasped the implication.

http://yayacanada.blogspot.com/2007/08/stop-spp-protest-kicks-off-in-ottawa.html

[Breeze54]

5. "..it's my job to protect the establishment."

Holy Shit!! Talk about brain washed!! :crazy:

I mean I know chalk is permanent!! :sarcasm:

[Jim Warren]

3. Bush's legacy

NWO II and destined to have more direct effect on people's lives than almost anything currently on the horizon......and dropping like a stone.

Oh well, back to the Jenna and Micheal Vick stories.

[Breeze54]

6. The apathy is scary!!! - "...and dropping like a stone."

:scared:

Rail against the machine but don't bother me right now!! :sarcasm:

[Breeze54]

7. NAFTA Superhighway Would Trump Human Rights for Business Interests

http://nhindymedia.org/newswire/display/4502/index.php">NAFTA Superhighway Would Trump Human Rights for Business Interests

Much is being made, especially on the Republican Presidential Campaign trail, about the "NAFTA Superhighway."
This is a column I published in the Concord Monitor last week to shed light on the controversy.
You can also read more in a new report, http://www.canadians.org/integratethis/backgrounders/guide/Behind%20Closed%20Doors.pdf">Behind Closed Doors, from the Council of Canadians.

The much-discussed "NAFTA Superhighway" may be an urban myth. But like many myths, this one is
solidly rooted in reality, in this case the details of the little known Security and Prosperity
Partnership between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It's the reality, not the myth, which
is sparking resistance in all three countries.

The reality is that business and security interests would trump environmental and human rights concerns if SPP proceeds.

The SPP controversy has its origins in Canada, where business groups worried they would be locked out of the U.S. market by post-9/11 border security measures. At the so-called "Three Amigos" summit in Waco, Texas, in 2005, President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin launched the SPP "to increase security and enhance prosperity among the three countries through greater cooperation." Their first move was to appoint 13 working groups, 10 dealing with commerce and three dealing with security. Think of it as NAFTA meets the Patriot Act.

It is the transportation working group that called for establishment of "multi-modal transportation corridors," combining super-ports, super-highways, rail, electric lines and perhaps water pipelines.

A year later, meeting in Cancun, the Three Amigos established the North American Competitiveness Council, to provide "high level business input" to advance the process of economic and political integration across the North American national borders.

Rather than thinking of this as a North American Union, as some fear, think of it more like a corporate merger, negotiated privately, bringing together business interests but leaving other interests behind.

The SPP plan overlaps considerably with visions of business-oriented think tanks, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the United States and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. Other groups, including the Atlantic Provinces Chambers of Commerce and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies have gotten into the act as well, with a plan called "Atlantica," to more closely link the economies of the Canadian Maritimes with northern New England and upstate New York.

In business-speak, the purpose of Atlantica is to reduce "barriers to trade." National borders are the most obvious barriers. But the independent actions of hundreds of local, state, and provincial governments could be considered barriers, too. And just as NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, unleashed a sweeping assault on the traditional authority of state and local governments, the establishment of Atlantica would reduce the ability of democratic governments to defend the interests of their citizens.

A growing number of Canadians are unhappy about Atlantica and the SPP, and plan to hold nonviolent demonstrations and educational events in Montebello, Quebec, where President Bush will meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper on Aug. 20.

"These big business lobbies claim that the only way to boost individual provincial economies is to take provinces out of the picture completely," according to the Council of Canadians, our northern neighbor's largest public interest group. "They want to do this by creating a massive bi-national trading bloc where wages are lower, unions are smaller, and the regulations protecting our health and environment are much weaker."

What the SPP outlines is not a massive infrastructure project, though such projects certainly fit within its political framework. Instead, it intends to further "harmonize" regulations between the three countries. But because it is primarily big business interests meeting with government officials, the new harmony is likely to be one in which environmental protection, the rights of workers to have decent jobs and the right to organize, and the ability of local governments to act on their own are likely to be left out in the name of "competitiveness."

Before we get onto any kind of highway toward further economic and political integration, let's make sure it is well enough lit that we can see where we are going and who is driving.

(Arnie Alpert is New Hampshire coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee. He is a member of the Monitor's board of contributors.)

[UTUSN]

8. A Jerome CORSI - George NOORY primer

***********QUOTE**********



http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=14965

North American Union to Replace USA?

by Jerome R. Corsi
Posted May 19, 2006

.... President Bush intends to abrogate U.S. sovereignty to the North American Union, a new economic and political entity which the President is quietly forming, much as the European Union has formed.

The blueprint President Bush is following was laid out in a 2005 report entitled "Building a North American Community" published by the left-of-center Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). The CFR report connects the dots between the Bush administration's actual policy on illegal immigration and the drive to create the North American Union: ....


http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=15497

Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway

by Jerome R. Corsi
Posted Jun 12, 2006

.... A good reason Bush does not want to secure the border with Mexico may be that the administration is trying to create express lanes for Mexican trucks to bring containers with cheap Far East goods into the heart of the U.S., all without the involvement of any U.S. union workers on the docks or in the trucks.

Mr. Corsi is the author of several books, including "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" (along with John O'Neill), "Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil" (along with Craig R. Smith), and "Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians." He is a frequent guest on the G. Gordon Liddy radio show. He will soon co-author a new book with Jim Gilchrist on the Minuteman Project.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=15623

North American Union Would Trump U.S. Supreme Court

by Jerome R. Corsi
Posted Jun 19, 2006

The Bush Administration is pushing to create a North American Union out of the work on-going in the Department of Commerce under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America in the NAFTA office headed by Geri Word. A key part of the plan is to expand the NAFTA tribunals into a North American Union court system that would have supremacy over all U.S. law, even over the U.S. Supreme Court, in any matter related to the trilateral political and economic integration of the United States, Canada and Mexico. ....

http://www.wnd.com/news/archives.asp?AUTHOR_ID=246

Coming soon to U.S.: Mexican customs office

Monday, June 05, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- Kansas City is planning to allow the Mexican government to open a Mexican customs office in conjunction with the Kansas City SmartPort. This will be the first foreign customs facility allowed to operate on U.S. soil.

Southern border blurs for global trade

Thursday, June 01, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- The Texas segment of the NAFTA Super Corridor is moving rapidly toward approval. When built, the Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, will be a major super-highway with six lanes mo ...

Bush border policy linked to Carlyle deal?

Tuesday, May 23, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- In January 2004, the Carlyle Group put together a new team to begin investing in Mexico. The team consisted of Luis T鬬ez, who was then an executive vice president of Desc, one of Mexico's larges ...

Immigration reform spells death for GOP

Friday, May 19, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- To measure what exactly the Senate is doing in putting together a "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" bill, we have to ask what is going to change after the bill is passed: No illegal immigrant currently in the United Stat ...

Border fence will never be built

Thursday, May 18, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- The Senate voted to approve the amendment submitted by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to build a 370-mile section of triple-layered fence along the Mexican border. Now the Bush administration is trying to push this as a victory for conservative ...


http://mediamatters.org/items/200408060010

MMFA investigates: Who is Jerome Corsi, co-author of Swift Boat Vets attack book?

....
• Corsi on Islam: "a worthless, dangerous Satanic religion"

• Corsi on Catholicism: "Boy buggering in both Islam and Catholicism is okay with the Pope as long as it isn't reported by the liberal press"

• Corsi on Muslims: "RAGHEADS are Boy-Bumpers as clearly as they are Women-Haters -- it all goes together"

• Corsi on "John F*ing Commie Kerry": "After he married TerRAHsa, didn't John Kerry begin practicing Judiasm? He also has paternal grandparents that were Jewish. What religion is John Kerry?"

• Corsi on Senator "FAT HOG" Clinton: "Anybody ask why HELLary couldn't keep BJ Bill satisfied? Not lesbo or anything, is she?" ....

********UNQUOTE*******

[Breeze54]

9. That HEO link is so RW!

ugh!

[UTUSN]

10. Pray tell, where else would Jerome CORSI spread his crap?!1 n/t

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Breeze54]

12. US Congress demands transparency in SPP agenda

US Congress demands transparency in SPP agenda

http://www.ndp.ca/page/5550

Thu 26 Jul 2007

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.

“What the U.S. House of Representatives clearly raised are issues of transparency, reduction of safety standards and concerns about the lack of democratic oversight of the SPP process,” said Julian. “The amendment tabled by Congresswoman Kaptur and Congressman Hunter indicates that the NDP’s concerns about the SPP’s secret agenda are echoed by legislators in the U.S. We need the same level of scrutiny on this side of the border. Unfortunately, Mr. Harper seems intent on keeping Canadians in the dark.”

Julian has been working closely with Kaptur to ensure concerns over the secrecy of the SPP on both sides of the border are front and centre in both countries’ political circles. The SPP was initiated by the Liberal government of Paul Martin in 2005, and has been continued by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper.

“What we’ve seen here is the clear repudiation of the SPP agenda from the U.S. Congress. We’ve seen similar concerns raised in Mexico. The NDP has been leading the fight in Canada to ensure that the SPP is put through real public consultations, democratic debate, and parliamentary oversight. The fact that democratic oversight, transparency and the issue of erosion of standards were all raised in the vote in the U.S. clearly indicates that concerns are broadening and deepening,” stated Julian.

more....

CONGRESSWOMAN MARCY KAPTUR WINS HOUSE AMENDMENT TO REJECT NAFTA SUPER HIGHWAY

http://www.kaptur.house.gov/PressRelease.aspx?NewsID=1598

Jul 26, 2007

Rep. Marcy Kaptur today declared “a major victory” following the 362-63 bipartisan victory in the U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday night to prohibit the use of federal funds to advance the NAFTA Super Highway as part of the 2008 Transportation Appropriations Bill.

Kaptur, a senior member and longtime opponent of NAFTA and other unfair trade agreements, said the margin of the overwhelming anti-NAFTA vote sends “a clear message” that a majority of Congress has come to understand the impact of globalization on American jobs. “We hope tonight’s vote is a beacon on the horizon that this Congress is finally going to correct the course of U.S. trade policy which has seriously gone awry.”

The House approved an amendment crafted by Kaptur, a Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA-52), a Republican, which prohibits the use of federal funds for Bush Administration officials to participate in continental working groups under the secretive Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). The proposal to create the NAFTA Super Highway has become a topic of enormous controversy in Texas and the heartland states.

“The Hunter-Kaptur Amendment,” Kaptur said, “was a victory for openness in trade negotiations, highway safety, good wages, and fair trade policies. The grip of global corporations was loosened last night as House members cheered this amendment’s passage and its call for transparency and oversight over the Executive Branch in trade proceedings.”

more....

[applegrove]

13. Wish I could be there. Go guys go - and keep the demonstrations safe for all.