INTEGRATE THIS!
Challenging the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America
A report by the Council of Canadians
PART I: WHAT WE SAW
The energy was palpable in Ottawa from March 30 to April 1st, 2007. Over 1,500 people
crammed into a concert hall and a high school to learn about the Security and Prosperity
Partnership of North America and how to fight it. Activists, academics, workers,
policy experts, journalists, artists, musicians, facilitators – and even breakdancers – congregated for Integrate This! Challenging the Security and Prosperity Partnership
of North America, a free teach-in sponsored by the Council of Canadians, the Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Canadian Labour Congress.
Avi Lewis, acclaimed broadcaster and the moderator for the Integrate This!
panel discussions captured participants’ enthusiasm when he said:
“There is a geeky thrill to a teach-in. There’s the fact that you’ve come here
on a Saturday morning. That you’re smelling the high school hallway smell,
and that you are excited by that. I find that intoxicating. Teach-ins are pivotal
moments and people remember them … you’re going to be able to say I was
there in that high school auditorium in Ottawa. And you are going to leave
here full of facts …”
When we saw hundreds of people stream into the auditorium of the Ottawa Technical
High School at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, we knew that we were in the midst of an
exciting political moment.
Council of Canadians staff members were still riding a wave of excitement from the night
before, when a roster of over 25 musicians, artists and dancers gathered at Capital
Music Hall for our Power In Numbers party, the official launch for the Integrate This!
teach-in.
Local stars Andrew Vincent and the Pirates and
Soul Jazz Orchestra shared the stage with Nomadic
Massive, a collective of hip-hop artists from Montreal
who electrified the crowd in English, French and Creole.
We also heard from DJ Rise Ashen and slam poets
Doretta Charles, John Akpata and Ritallin, and watched
in awe as local breakdancers flipped and spun through the air. Host Alanna Stuart kept driving the message home that this party was a protest
against the SPP. Artist Kenji Toyooka provided some live painting on canvas while VJ
Matt Cameron complemented the beats with video images.
Council staff members were on hand to answer questions about the teach-in and sign
people up for email updates.
So we were thrilled to see that even after a late night, people still had lots of energy for
a long day of discussion and action planning on Saturday, March 31. It was incredible to
see the connections being made that day between students and veteran Council chapter
members, between environmentalists and anti-poverty activists, and between workers
and volunteers from dozens of social justice and non-profit organizations. We met
activists from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, all dedicated to raising awareness about
the danger that the SPP poses to their countries’ independence, social security and
environment.
This is the kind of energy that propelled people to take to the streets and disrupt the
World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999. It’s the kind of passion that saw
thousands of people braving tear gas to protest against the Free Trade Area of the
Americas in Quebec City in 2001. It’s the kind of dedication that encourages more than
800 people to spend a sunny Saturday in a high school auditorium.
“The stakes are very high here,” said Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the
Council of Canadians. “And we have the opportunity not only to defeat something that is
profoundly wrong for our peoples and for the sustainability of our planet,
but to promote something very, very different.”
This report is designed to give you a taste of what we discussed and
what we learned together at the Integrate This! teach-in. But this is only
the beginning. Keep checking the Council of Canadians’ website at
www.IntegrateThis.ca, where we’re posting new information every day.
And contact us at 1-800-387-7177, or inquiries@canadians.org, to find
out how you can get involved in the fight against the SPP and help promote a more just
vision of the relationship between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
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