On August 12th 2009 a new post on the www.spp.gov page stated that the Security and Prosperity Partnership is no longer an active initiative of the US government.

A Victory!  …yes?

Not so fast!

While the Security and Prosperity Partnership is no longer an active initiative of the three NAFTA countries, many of the components have already been implemented or are still moving forward. This neoliberal agenda for continental integration will continue. The corporate giants and think tanks behind the SPP are in the process of rebranding this agenda.

The SPP was driven by a group of thirty CEO’s, ten each from some of the largest corporations of the three NAFTA countries, which made up an organization called the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC). The NACC is composed of a who’s who of the military industrial complex, big pharma, big banks, big oil and retail giants including Lockheed Martin, General Electric, Merck, Scotiabank, Chevron, Ford, Walmart and Home Depot.

The NACC was the only non-government organization to take part in the ‘Three Amigos’ summits held each year since 2005. It would bring forward recommendations on how to implement deeper integration between the three countries through a process of harmonization and regulatory reform that was favorable to the corporate giants but detrimental to working people, consumers and the environment.

The end of the SPP in name was predictable. In a May interview, American Consul General Phillip Chicola stated that President Obama would likely want to rebrand the Bush era Security and Prosperity Partnership but the process of deep integration would continue. When President Obama was in Ottawa on February 19th 2009,  he was asked what he thought the Canada-U.S. relationship would look like in four years and his response was “I think we will see continued integration…”

In March of 2008, the Fraser Institute published a report entitled Saving the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership: The Case for a North American Standards and Regulatory Area where they lay out the case for renaming the SPP while continuing the integrationist agenda.

The NACC was left out of the 2009 Three Amigos summit in Guadalajara Mexico but that doesn’t mean that their influence or persistence to shape the agenda for bilateral and trilateral integration has waned.

In a September 5^th article in the Telegraph Journal, Thomas d’Aquino, who heads the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and also serves as the chairman of the advisory group to the Canadian North American Competitiveness Council said he was unconcerned about the future of trilateral discussion despite the fact that Obama’s administration is “cool” to the continuation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership. “The reality is that whether it’s called SPP or it’s given a new name, which I predict will be the case, there will always be very important levels of trilateral collaboration,” d’Aquino said.

D’Aquino was also quoted in an August 26th article in Embassy Magazine as saying “There is no question that the Obama administration is rethinking the architecture of trilateralism in North America,” he says. “However, anyone who thinks that the trilateral priorities have suddenly disappeared…is dreaming in Technicolor.”

The article also quotes Paul Martin, another architect of the SPP and former member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. (Paul Martin’s name does not appear under the list of current members and he doesn’t include membership in the CCCE in his official bios).

“The SPP agenda may change its name, but I don’t believe it, as a vehicle that really serves Canada, has in any way, shape or form come to an end,” he says.

Here’s another telling excerpt from the Embassy article.

Rising from the Dead

“Ten days before the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico of Aug. 9, a group of North American academics gathered in Mexico City. Assembled at the subtle suggestion of the White House, and with key administration officials within earshot, leading thinkers hashed out new ideas for the future of continental co-operation.”

“Embassy spoke with a number of the thinkers who attended this “Cross Talk” conference, organized by the Woodrow Wilson International Center, to get the inside track on the Obama administration’s plans for the future of North American co-operation. And by most accounts, the Obama administration has big plans for SPP 2.0.”

The military integration of the three countries also continues unabated. In Mexico the militarization of drug and border enforcement has included greater involvement of the American military inside Mexico under the Merida Initiative. In February 2008, the Canadian and US militaries quietly signed an agreement that allows armed forces from the neighouring country to cross the border in the case of civil unrest, pandemic or other emergencies. There is a great deal of concern that the expected H1N1 pandemic will be used as a pretext to further the security agenda of the SPP.

The SPP stands as a prime example of the willingness of the corporate elite and their political cronies to sacrifice democratic principles and civil liberties in favour of corporate control and monopolization. “You, Me and the SPP’ illuminates and provides the documentation of this corporate agenda that North American citizens need in order to prepare for the next incarnation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership.

You can see ‘You, Me and the SPP’ during the National SPP Victory tour starting with a screening and tour launch on Parliament Hill on October 1st and carrying on across Canada through to the middle of November. Many of the screenings include panels and the involvement of organizations that are combating the implementation of this corporate agenda at the local level. Victory can be ours but it’s going to take a lot more work to create the kind of society we need and deserve. Dreaming in technicolor is beautiful and a lot less drab than the black and white world of our would be corporate masters.

The national tour is sponsored by; the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives with a number of organizations sponsoring individual screenings

The screening dates are posted on the films website www.youmespp.com where copies of the DVD can be also ordered. Alternatively, for those who don’t like doing business with credit cards on the internet, DVD’s can be ordered by sending a cheque or money order for $31 ($25 plus tax and shipping) to Manly Media Box 1093 Stn. A Nanaimo BC V9R 6E7 and a DVD will be shipped to you.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 12:44 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.