Why We Should Care About SPP

So if you heard that the leaders of Canada, the US and Mexico were getting together to discuss stuff like military integration, reduced restrictions on imports and resource sharing, would you be concerned?

The right answer is yes.

SPP is a new deal being crafted between these three countries that being criticised by all sides of the political spectrum as anti-democratic and dangerous for Canadian sovereignty. Corporations like Chevron and Lockheed Martin dig the plan because reduced trade barriers mean more money for them and George Bush likes it because it gives resource-greedy America better access to our limited resources (lumber, oil and most likeley, water).

The plan is dangerous and not good for Canada and we all should give a shit.

Sadly, like most agreements like this, it's happening quietly with little or no press. Bush will Be in Canada this weekend to work on the deal with our fearless minority leader Stephen Harper. The Green Party is holding a counter-summit at the same time and they want to unveil a pettition there:

To Prime Minister Stephen Harper, President George Bush and President Felipe de Jesus Calderon of Mexico,

We, the people of Canada want to send you a clear message that we do not support the SPP and will actively work to stop its implementation.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America, initiated on March 31, 2005 by the leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico to advance free trade and security cooperation should not go forward.

We demand fair trade not free trade and a continued separation between our countries ON issues such as:

• Homeland security
• The military
• Energy and natural resources
• Global security and foreign policy
• Economic policy
• Regulatory policy – environment, health, food safety for expediting cross-border trade.

We are separate nations that deserve to keep our sovereignty.

We do not want:

• Canadian Foreign policy to fall into line with US foreign policy objectives as it diminishes Canada's role as a peace-maker
• Canadian domestic policy, Canada's social safety net, threatened by proposals to harmonize our social policies with weaker US social security policies;
• Our Sovereignty Threatened. Canada's independence is under threat. Our Federal Government has signaled its willingness to surrender crucial regulatory powers in the interests of trade. The Smart Regulation initiative will weaken Canadian regulations to facilitate trade with the US. (Proposals to raise Canadian limits on pesticide residues for hundreds of fruit and vegetable products reflect this pressure)
• Human rights violated: The use of security certificates and the sharing of security information with the US government through the SPP will put Canadians at greater risk of privacy and other human rights violations
• Our environment degraded through the implementation of super-corridors lined with oil, gas and water pipelines which will carve up arable land and wipe out biodiversity across North America while promoting fossil fuel consumption and development of the Alberta tar sands. Increased fossil fuel dependency increases air pollution and North American emissions of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change
• Our security endangered. Canadians will face greater threats as we become more active in the US-led "war on terror"
• Our natural resources violated. NAFTA and the SPP facilitate foreign corporate ownership and weakens regulations governing our natural resource sector. Canada's energy security is already compromised under the proportionality clause in chapter 6 of NAFTA and is in even greater jeopardy under the SPP. Canada's water is vulnerable to bulk export and diversion through NAFTA and moreso under the SPP.

Sign the pettition here.