OTTAWA - The Council of Canadians is deeply concerned by the contents of the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America signed this afternoon by U.S. President George W. Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. The agreement, one giant step toward full continental integration, would lead to a significant loss of sovereignty for Canada.

Martin wouldn't deny that this is the first step toward continental integration. When asked by reporters, he was evasive, stating: "What we are talking about here is not a big bang; we're talking about big progress."

"Sharing intelligence information is not progress if it risks creating more circumstances like those faced by Maher Arar," said Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "Exporting ever-increasing amounts of Canadian energy to the U.S, is not progress if it leads to greater environmental degradation. Harmonization of regulations with the U.S. is not progress if it leads to rubberstamp decisions made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."

"It's no coincidence that the title, Security and Prosperity Partnership of North American is so close to that of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives recent report, The North American Security and Prosperity Initiative," added Guy Caron with the Council. "This is just a big business grocery list. There is no concrete action to improve the lives of citizens as every single measure is geared to please the corporate sector."

"Contrary to the title of the document released today by the three leaders, deeper integration will not result in greater security and prosperity for Canadians," concluded Barlow. "This initiative will lead to the erosion of Canadians' civil rights, the destruction of regulatory standards and practices designed to protect Canadians from unsafe food and drugs, and the eventual surrender of precious resources."

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For more information, please contact:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249; 1-800-387-7177, ext. 249; .