MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2007

Organizations make election plans to oppose Security and Prosperity Partnership

Canadian civil society groups concerned about the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are holding a press conference today outlining key problems with the current corporate push for so-called “deeper integration.”

The Council of Canadians, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the Parkland Institute and the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) are concerned that the SPP will have harmful effects on democracy, job security, natural resources and the environment, and minority rights in Canada and throughout North America.

In opposition to the SPP, the groups are demanding that the Canadian government:

• Abolish the North American Competitiveness Council, the corporate advisory body driving the SPP process
• Develop a concrete plan to protect the environment, energy and water in Canada
• Ensure that civil liberties and rights are not compromised under the pretext of the U.S.-led war on terror
• Make job security and higher standards of living for workers in Canada a priority
• Submit the SPP to legislative review and meaningful consultation with the public

The organizations say they will make the SPP an election issue. They will be joining many others this weekend in Ottawa at the first civil society gathering on the SPP- a weekend teach-in organized by the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Labour Congress and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

“The SPP has allowed large corporations to impose their agenda on the rest of us,” says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “Over the next few days, civil society groups, academics and activists will gather in Ottawa to share our concerns and discuss strategies to ensure that our voices are heard during the next election and at the next SPP leaders’ summit that will bring U.S. President George Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon to Canada in August.”

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For more information, contact: Meera Karunananthan Media Officer: (613) 233-4487, ext. 234;
Cell: (613) 795-8685; ; www.IntegrateThis.ca.

Press conference at 10:30 am in Charles Lynch room, Parliament Hill, Ottawa.