Why all the Secrecy about the SPP? The next North American Leaders' Summit – where Canada, the United States and Mexico meet to discuss progress on the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) – is only a couple weeks away and Canadians have been told nothing about Canada’s priorities. From August 9-10 in Guadalajara, Mexico, Prime Minister Harper will meet with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts for the fifth time since the SPP was formalized in 2005. The aim of the SPP was to speed up a corporate goal of continental economic integration between the countries while merging security policies across the continent as part of the U.S. “war on terror.” U.S. President Barack Obama promised in February 2008 that all future North American leaders' summits “will be conducted with a level of transparency that represents the close ties among our three countries,” and said that he “will seek the active and open involvement of citizens, labor, the private sector and non-governmental organizations in setting the agenda and making progress.” But civil society groups have not been invited to participate in the Guadalajara meeting, which was announced only a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, corporate lobby groups like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce are waiting in the wings to see if they will once again be invited to inform the trilateral dialogue, helping to set its priorities through the North American Competitiveness Council.

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Demand a Say in North America’s Future
We need your help to get the word out that Canadians, Mexicans and Americans are once again being excluded from the North American dialogue. Cooperation across borders can be necessary and beneficial when it is in everyone’s mutual interest, but the SPP has had a very narrow, corporate version of cooperation that put profits before people. The SPP agreement – which has never been debated by Parliament – has expanded and supported an unsustainable export-oriented energy and trade model, while placing new barriers to the movement of people through heightened security measures.

Take action!
E-mail Prime Minister Stephen Harper and your local MP today and let them know you oppose the SPP model of North American integration. Go here to see our action alert.

Go to www.IntegrateThis.ca to find out more about the Security and Prosperity Partnership.

Here’s more about what’s new at the Council of Canadians:

• Opposition to Dump Site 41 Grows
• Support the Council’s Work on a Monthly Basis
• How Corporations are Winning the 2010 Olympic Games
• Why “Buy American” Isn’t a Bad Thing
• Help Fight Climate Change – Sign the KyotoPlus Petition
• Join the Council of Canadians Today!

Opposition to Dump Site 41 Grows

The calls to stop the construction of Dump Site 41 are getting louder, as pressure is mounting from across the country for Simcoe County officials to enact a one-year moratorium on development and construction at the site.

On July 4, more than 800 people took part in a march, rally and concert hosted by the Council of Canadians and CUPE Ontario opposing construction of Dump Site 41 – a landfill being built in Tiny Township, which is part of Simcoe County, located about 120 km north of Toronto. If the landfill goes ahead, garbage will be dumped on top of an area covering the Alliston Aquifer that has been identified by scientists to have some of the purest and cleanest water in the world.

On July 25, Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly and National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, addressed a crowd of more than 1,800 people at another rally, which included the Cottagers Association, in support of a moratorium for Site 41.

Building plans for the dump are going ahead without key pieces of information. Despite an order by Ontario’s Information Commissioner and repeated requests by the Site 41 Community Monitoring Committee, Simcoe County officials have refused to provide details of the Modflow data (groundwater flow simulation figures) – information vital to any decision about the safety or viability of the dump site. The site’s legality has also come into question. Through research, our legal counsel uncovered the fact that Simcoe County Council didn’t approve full construction of the site by motion, resolution or vote. Without this approval, construction on the site is illegal.

What we are doing to stop Dump Site 41

The Council of Canadians has joined with community members and First Nations groups opposed to this landfill. We have contracted a lawyer and sent official notice to the township that we will use legal means to stop the dump. We have joined the call for a one-year moratorium on construction to allow time for further analysis and assessment of the project, and continue to encourage people to press local councillors to approve a moratorium at a meeting in August. And we continue to gather signed letters from our members and supporters that will be delivered to Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretson telling him there is no water to waste, and construction of Dump Site 41 must be stopped immediately. Your donations and support are making a difference in the fight to protect water.

For more information about how you can join the fight to stop Dump Site 41 and to see recent event photos go here.

Support the Council’s Work on a Monthly Basis

The Council of Canadians’ work often depends on being able to react quickly and effectively to issues – whether it’s mobilizing people to take action in support of World Water Day, holding press conferences across the country to counter claims of “free” trade by provincial and federal governments, or bringing members and activists from across the country together for our annual meeting – our work is made possible by the generous support of our members and donors. Playing an integral role in sustaining these efforts is the Canada Plan, the Council’s monthly giving program. Stable, monthly donations provide us with the ability to react to urgent events, plan for the day-to-day needs of our core campaigns, and fight for strong policies in support of public health care, water, energy and fair trade.

Joining the Canada Plan is easy.

You can call our membership department at 1-800-387-7177, or sign up on our website at www.canadians.org through the “Join Us” section. Canada Plan members authorize the Council to make monthly withdrawals from their chequing account or credit card in an amount of their choosing. The plan is very flexible: members can make changes to their monthly support at any time simply by contacting us. If you have not already done so, please consider becoming a Canada Plan member today.

Go here to join the Canada Plan.

Click here to read more about our Canada Plan program.

How Corporations are Winning the 2010 Olympic Games

According to the International Olympic Charter, The Olympic Games are intended to “contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”

The Council of Canadians supports the Olympic goal of friendly international competition between athletes who excel in their respective sports. We understand and appreciate the pleasure and enjoyment so many around the world share in the spectacle and achievements of the Olympic Games.

However, we are gravely concerned by the increasing evidence that these worthy aspects are being overwhelmed, if not totally supplanted, by an “Olympic industry” focused on real estate development and massive corporate marketing opportunities. This “Olympic industry” is founded and based in undemocratic and unaccountable national and international structures and implicated in numerous corruption scandals that undermine everything a truly noble Olympic movement should stand for.

The Council of Canadians will be speaking out about corporate involvement in the 2010 Olympic Games, which are being held in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C. We are concerned with the lasting negative economic and social impacts for First Nations and local communities, the unnecessary security measures that are infringing on civil liberties, and the role that corporations are playing in promotion and sponsorship of the Games. Many of the Games' corporate sponsors support on-going exploitation in the Alberta tar sands, bottled water and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

To read our official statement on the 2010 Olympic Games and other related resources, go here.

Why “Buy American” Isn’t a Bad Thing

There has been much concern and confusion in Canada around the Obama administration’s proposed stimulus legislation, that contains a “Buy American” condition on federal stimulus cash for major infrastructure projects. The law is a temporary measure aimed at boosting the national economy, which suffered a major blow when the U.S. banking and real estate markets collapsed last year, but the reality is that “Buy American” rules have been in place for more than 75 years.

The U.S. stimulus plan has come under intense fire from the Harper government, which calls it "protectionist". Canadian Municipalities have asked the federal government to lobby Washington to have Canadian companies exempted from “Buy American” requirements, and some cities are threatening to implement procurement policies that would restrict U.S. companies from bidding on infrastructure projects in retaliation.

Profiting from municipal frustration, and exaggerating the impact that the U.S. stimulus package will have on Canadian companies, the Harper government has proposed something quite different – an ambitious new agreement with the United States that could bind provinces, states, territories and cities to international trade rules prohibiting any conditions on local government procurement, including “Buy Canadian” or “Buy Local” policies, sustainable or ethical purchasing strategies, and requirements that profits be reinvested locally.

An announcement is expected shortly on a deal brokered by International Trade Minister Stockwell Day with provincial governments in response to the “Buy American” legislation. The Council of Canadians is opposed to any agreement that would ban the use of provincial or municipal procurement as a tool for economic development, increasing environmental sustainability, or encouraging better corporate practices.

To read more about “Buy American” legislation and its local impacts, go here.

Help Fight Climate Change – Sign the KyotoPlus Petition

Faced with climate change and diminishing resources globally, we are at a critical juncture for energy policy. Now, more than ever, we need a Canadian Energy Strategy that ensures energy security and helps transition to sustainable energy production and consumption. Instead, Canada is taking a “free market” approach with no energy strategy that addresses where our energy comes from, where it is going, or the high price of environmental devastation that comes with producing it.

We must have urgent action on climate change to meet energy security needs in a sustainable manner. Committing to emission reduction targets is an essential step. As a member of Kyotoplus, the Council of Canadians is encouraging concerned Canadians to sign the “Kyotoplus: climate action now!” petition demanding immediate action from Canadian politicians to commit to emission reductions and a bold, strengthened climate change agreement at the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, December 2009.

Go here to sign the KyotoPlus petition now.