{news} CANADIAN/US GREEN RELEASE Greens blast secretive NAFTA-Plus trade-security deal

Wed Aug 15 16:53:54 EDT 2007

Dear CT Greens,
We will be joining Canadian Greens in Ottawa to oppose this horrific and secretive plan to create a NAFTA PLUS of the US, Canada and Mexico.
We invite any of you who can make it to Ottawa to join us.  Please spread the word.
This is a good example of international Greens collaborating to support issues of mutual concern and Green Party values.

Justine McCabe
Julia Willebrand
Co-Chairs, International Committee
Green Party of the United States    

===============================================
GREEN PARTY OF CANADA http://www.greenparty.ca
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Contacts
Green Party of Canada:
John Chenery, Director of Communications,
416-452-6016, jchenery at greenparty.ca
Green Party of the United States:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805,
starlene at gp.org

National Green parties join forces to fight North
American Union

. Canadian and US Greens campaign against 'Security
and Prosperity Partnership of North America' and plan
cross-border Counter Summit when heads of state of
Canada, US, and Mexico meet in Montebello, Quebec,
August 20.

. Secretive deal between Prime Minister Harper,
President Bush and President Calderón is a blueprint
to further integrate the three countries' trade,
economic, energy, defence and security policies, and
which is being implemented undemocratically by
bureaucratic committees with no public oversight.

. During one-day Counter Summit, Greens from the US
and Canada will discuss the history, mechanics, and
implications of the Security and Prosperity
Partnership, and plan strategies for opposition

WASHINGTON, DC/OTTAWA, ONT. -- Green Party leaders in
Canada and the US are alerting their respective
parties and the public about the 'Security and
Prosperity Partnership of North America' (SPP), a
secretive deal between President Bush (US), Prime
Minister Harper (Canada), and President Calderón
(Mexico). 

Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May stated,
"The SPP is integrating the military, security, trade,
economic, regulatory, and foreign polices of Canada,
the US, and Mexico without public input or
Parliamentary or Congressional scrutiny.  The threat
of widespread surveillance of citizens, greenhouse gas
emissions from tar sands development and
'super-corridors,' increased fossil fuel dependence,
privatization of water, erosion of food safety and
environmental regulations, and expanded corporate
power at the expense of economic stability for working
people -- these are some of the reasons we oppose the
SPP."

North American Green Parties are calling for
transnational opposition, beginning with a 'Counter
Summit' teach-in and strategy session August 20 in
Ottawa to coincide with a meeting of the leaders of
Canada, the US, and Mexico at the third annual summit
in Montebello in nearby Quebec. The Green Party of the
United States has endorsed the Counter Summit and will
send representatives.  Greens will also participate in
civil society opposition to the Montebello Summit,
with two days of activities planned for August 19 and
20. 

Dr. Janet M. Eaton, International Trade Critic with
the Green Party of Canada, who spoke about the SPP at
the annual meeting of the Green Party of the United
States in Reading, Pennsylvania, in July, said:

"The SPP, also called 'NAFTA-Plus' within a 'security
trumps all' framework, is the next big step in moving
from a free trade agreement to a customs union and
some suggest common market and eventually a union like
the European Union."

"But we should heed the words of the Secretary General
of the European Greens, Juan Behrand, who said that
the process for North American integration does not
resemble the democratic and consultative European
Union model."

Eaton said that the so-called North American
Partnership is fraught with profound implications for
sovereignty and Constitutional and Charter rights.

"The Bush, Harper, and Calderón administrations are
taking their countries down a dark road to a future
where decisions are made in virtual secrecy by
undemocratic supranational organizations such as the
North American Competitiveness Council.  This group of
powerful corporate leaders represents the large
transnational companies that stand to profit from the
SPP's globalist economy, an economic model which has
been largely recognized as a failure when it comes to
protecting working people and the environment," said
Dr. Julia Willebrand, co-chair of the US Green Party's
International Committee and co-president of the
Federation of Green Parties of the Americas.

Greens dispute claims by NAFTA proponents that NAFTA
has proved successful and that the SPP is the logical
and necessary next step.  Green Parties have called
for withdrawal from and renegotiation of NAFTA, and
for enactment of 'fair trade' policies where economic,
social and ecological justice take precedence over
corporate profit and privilege and the short term
economic demands of investors. 

""Security and Prosperity are attractive goals.  The
use of these words disguises that the Harper-Bush
agenda undermines true security by imperiling global
eco-systems, revving climate change into over-drive,
and ignoring the needs to protect true peace and
prosperity through flourishing, open democratic
process.  The 'Security and Prosperity Partnership'
scheme deserves widespread public exposure and
opposition," said Elizabeth May.

Greens warn of numerous dangers if SPP remains
unchallenged, including:

. Super-corridors lined with oil, gas, and water
pipelines, which will carve up arable land, damage
biodiversity across North America, and increase fossil
fuel consumption and emission of greenhouse gases.

. Military and security integration of the US, Canada,
and Mexico, with an expansion of surveillance over
private citizens and forced subordination of
Canada and Mexico to imperial US military goals.

. Privatization and unconstrained exploitation of
natural resources for the benefit of US-based
corporations, e.g., Mexico's state-owned oil industry
and Canadian watersheds.

. Erosion of food safety standards

. Empowerment of the North American Competitiveness
Council (NACC), which gives corporate leaders access
to government information and resources while denying
the latter to civil society leaders.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of Canada
http://www.greenparty.ca

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
. Green Party News Center
http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
. Green Party Speakers Bureau
http://www.gp.org/speakers
. 2007 national Green Party meeting in Reading, Pa.:
video footage, blog and media coverage
http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/

Green Party to Host SPP Counter-Summit 
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/node/2467 [Counter-Summit
agenda included] 

The Security and Prosperity Partnership: Why We Need
to Take a Closer Look at Continental Integration
[displaying a map of North American Super-corridors]
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/policy/documents/deeper_look_spp
Security and Prosperity Partnership Q&A
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/policy/spp_FAQ

"Green Party of Canada Takes on the SPP Alerting US
Greens and Planning Cross Border Summit!!"
By Dr. Janet Eaton, International Trade Critic, Green
Party Shadow Cabinet
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/newsletter/august2007/B

"Threats to Our Water: NAFTA, SPP, Super-Corridors,
Atlantica"
By Dr. Janet Eaton, PhD. Power Point with images and
photos
http://www.greenparty.ca/files/Threats_to_our_Water.ppt

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