Hands off our mail, a victory for Canada’s water, fighting Atlantica and much, much more…

The government has finally confirmed that the next meeting between Stephen Harper, George Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderón will take place from August 20-21 in Montebello, Quebec. And true to form, activists in Ottawa and across Canada are in the midst of planning creative ways to protest at the summit, in an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. Plans are already underway for a giant demonstration, a teach-in, and even a bike caravan from Ottawa to Montebello. We’ll be posting information about actions in Ottawa, Montebello and across Canada at IntegrateThis.ca, as soon as we know the details. So drop by often for up-to-the-minute information as plans progress. And click here to sign up for email updates on the Montebello summit.

But meanwhile, here’s what’s new at the Council of Canadians:

• Victory! Well, sort of … the Council welcomes NAFTA victory while decrying NAFTA rules
• House of Commons votes to remove water from NAFTA – another victory for Canada’s water!
• Message to Stephen Harper: Stop putting relations with the U.S. ahead of human rights
• Council of Canadians takes on Atlantica in Halifax
• What’s the Deal? Ontario, TILMA and the threat to local democracy
• Maude Barlow tells Lou Dobbs why Canadians oppose the SPP

Victory! Well, sort of … the Council welcomes NAFTA victory while decrying NAFTA rules

Thanks to a recent NAFTA tribunal decision, courier giant UPS will have to keep its hands off our mail. The Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are pleased that United Parcel Service’s complaint under the North American Free Trade Agreement was rejected by the tribunal hearing the case. Still, we remain unhappy with the tribunal process and particularly object to NAFTA’s Chapter 11.

UPS sued Canada over six years ago under Chapter 11, which allows corporations to challenge governments if they think their investments are restricted by government measures. UPS claimed that its investments were being threatened by Canada’s publicly funded network of mailboxes and post offices because this network allegedly provided Canada Post with an unfair advantage.

“We are very happy that the tribunal rejected UPS’s complaint, but that doesn’t mean we think NAFTA works,” said CUPW National President Deborah Bourque. “NAFTA allowed UPS to put the public postal service and jobs on trial. A secret trial.”

Jean-Yves LeFort, trade campaigner for the Council of Canadians said, “Investment rules such as Chapter 11 need to be removed from NAFTA and all other trade agreements signed by Canada.”

Click here to read more details about the case, including a chronology of UPS's NAFTA complaint. And check out Council board member Steven Shrybman’s interview with CBC Radio, where he explains the significance of the tribunal’s ruling.

House of Commons votes to remove water from NAFTA – another victory for Canada’s water!

As reported by the Ottawa Citizen on June 1st, “a motion to open NAFTA talks to make sure bulk-water exports are excluded from the deal sparked an acrimonious three-hour debate in the House” on May 31st. All three opposition parties lined up against Harper’s Conservatives and called “for a formal letter of agreement with the U.S. and Mexico to make sure bulk water will never be defined as a good or service under NAFTA.”

The motion was passed in the House of Commons by a vote of 134 to 108. Tabled by the Standing Committee on International Trade, it recommends that the federal government “begin talks with its American and Mexican counterparts to exclude water from the scope of NAFTA.”

The Council of Canadians applauds all members of parliament who supported this motion, and urges the Harper government to act to protect Canada’s water immediately.

“We are proud of our elected officials for taking the responsibility to protect Canada’s water,” said Maude Barlow. “We now expect our government to take the House’s direction on this matter despite the fact that all Conservative Party members voted against the motion.”

Opposition parties pushed the motion forward in response to a leaked document obtained by the Council of Canadians revealing that bulk water exports were being discussed at a closed-door trinational meeting involving the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States within the framework of the Security and Prosperity Partnership.

Click here to read more about bulk water exports and find out what you can do to help protect Canada’s water.

Message to Stephen Harper: Stop putting relations with the U.S. ahead of human rights

In a recent editorial in the Ottawa Citizen, Council chair Maude Barlow, Amnesty International’s Alex Neve and Roch Tassé from the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group urged the Canadian government to take action and protect the human rights of Omar Khadr. The 20-year-old Canadian has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay for the last five years. They wrote:

“Omar Khadr is the only child in modern history to be charged with war crimes, and yet, unlike the United Kingdom and Australia, which have successfully negotiated the release of their citizens from Guantanamo Bay, Canada continues to ignore his plight.

A U.S state department official declared last week that Mr. Khadr may be detained until the end of the "war on terror" regardless of yesterday's ruling.

Canada's public silence in the face of such blatant human-rights abuse experienced by a Canadian citizen is incomprehensible. Is it just unwillingness to go to bat for someone with a controversial family background? Or are we learning that even basic human and legal rights can be traded away for some coveted best-friend status with the United States, something that neither Britain nor Australia has been afraid to forgo in the name of justice?”

Click here to read the full editorial. And visit Canadians.org/SPP/, to read more about how the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America threatens civil liberties both at home and abroad.

Council of Canadians takes on Atlantica in Halifax

Last week, Maude Barlow was in Halifax, where she joined representatives from the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Mexican Action Network against Free Trade, to speak out against the “corporate dream” of Atlantica. The proposal by the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies aims to integrate the easternmost provinces with the northeastern United States.

“This scheme will give the United States greater access to Canadian resources without benefiting Canadians,” said Barlow. She spoke to a packed room of over 300 people, capping off a day of protest on June 7, organized by the Council of Canadians’ Halifax office and local chapter activists.

Union representatives have stated that there is no advantage to the local economy when unrefined oil, gas and other materials are sent to the United States to be refined by American workers.

The Council of Canadians warns that Atlantica is part of a larger agenda led by corporations to integrate the economies of Canada, the United States and Mexico under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. All three governments have confirmed that they will be using the SPP to further the Atlantica agenda.

To read more about what you can do to help stop Atlantica, visit Canadians.org/atlantica.

What’s the Deal? Ontario, TILMA and the threat to local democracy

Eduardo Sousa and Carleen Pickard, the Council’s Ontario/Quebec and B.C./Yukon regional organizers, are hitting the road starting today. They’re on a mission to warn people about the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement and the impact it will have on local democracy if the Ontario government signs on.

TILMA is a free trade and investment agreement between Alberta and British Columbia that was negotiated behind closed doors without any public consultation or debate. The Ontario government also wants in on TILMA and has begun talks with other provinces without informing or seeking input from the public.

TILMA has provisions similar to those in NAFTA, where corporations and individuals are allowed to sue provincial governments for any regulation considered harmful to investment (i.e., profits). TILMA will have a negative impact on the ability of local municipalities to draft health and environmental regulations for its citizens.

The Ontario-wide tour to stop TILMA is designed to raise public awareness about the deal and its potential impact on Ontario’s social services and environmental protections.

Click here to see if the tour is visiting a community near you. And visit Canadians.org/TILMA to learn more about what you can do to stop TILMA from being implemented in your province.

Maude Barlow tells Lou Dobbs why Canadians oppose the SPP

The Canadian media is starting to take notice of the Council’s criticism of the SPP. And now, big American news outlets like CNN are also beginning to contact us, curious about Canadian opposition to deep integration.

Click here to see Maude Barlow’s recent interview with Lou Dobbs Tonight.

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