ONGOING PROTESTS IN OTTAWA, MONTEBELLO AND OTHER POINTS:

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America(SPP) has often been referred to as "NAFTA on steroids". It is a agreement originally founded in 2005 at a summit of the leaders of the USA, Canada and Mexico. Since then the ongoing negotiations have included secret negotiations in Banff Springs in September 2006. The continued negotiations are being carried on behind the backs of the electorates of the three countries involved with no opportunity for debate in their legislatures, let alone among their publics. The SPP involves a tight integration of the economies of the three countries whereby no issue will be "off the table" amongst the parties involved, whether it be Mexican oil or Canadian water. It also involves much closer integration of the defense policies of the countries involved than has previously been the case.

This means essentially the freedom of corporations to have access to whatever source of cheap labour they desire, their access to natural resources and their ability to bypass local labour and environmental regulations. It means a transfer of power from local communities to distant corporate offices. It also means the tighter integration of military and police functions across North America and the surrender of sovereignty by Mexico and Canada to the USA in many areas such as immigration. This means increased exploitation of cheap Mexican guest workers in both the USA and Canada, easing the pressure in these two countries for labour standards to conform to local standards. The Vancouver group of No One is Illegal has done an excellent summary of the implications of this plot, and Molly urges her readers to consult it. Others who are opposed to the SPP have also voiced their opposition. These include:

The Council of Canadians:Integrate This

The Canadian Labour Congress

The Centre for Research on Globalization

Wikipedia also has a "presumably" neutral article (if the CIA hasn't "modified" it too much this minute) on the issue. Watch out for changes if they haven't been embarrassed enough by this time. The official site of the SPP is http://www.spp.gov/ if you want to see the plot in their own words. Other sites that can give information on the SPP include:

http://www.nowar-paix.ca/

http://nowar.ca/

http://acp-cpa.ca/

http://psp-spp.com/

Protests have been ongoing in the Ottawa, Montreal and Outaouais region for some days now. Arrests have already been made in preliminary protests at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa (THE place where Canada's ruling class has always met to plot evil). Activists have already gathered from across Ontario and Quebec to protest the upcoming meeting of the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the American Imperium that begins tomorrow. Camps have already been established for protesters on the perimeter of Montibello in the Gatineau Hills in Quebec east of Ottawa. Sympathy demonstrations will be held in various cities across Canada, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, St. Catherines, Toronto, Windsor Montreal and Fredericton. Here in Winnipeg the demo will be held on Monday, August 20th at the Federal Building at Main and Water from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Other demos will be held in the USA and Mexico.

As we speak demonstrations have begun in the Ottawa area. Some disagreements with the local police have occurred outside the PSAC building at 233 Gilmour St. in Ottawa where activists from the Peoples' Global Action network had arranged for a meeting with the PSAC union. The Ottawa Indymedia site is providing up to the minute coverage of the events, along with live radio broadcasts in English, French and Spanish as http://www.ckut.ca:8000/live.org . If this link doesn't work refer to Ottawa Indymedia for updated coverage and a working site. Several incidents of minor vandalism have also occurred at bank sites in Ottawa and the CN rail lines in Montreal.

Once more, for ongoing coverage stay tuned to Ottawa Indymedia. More on this on Molly's Blog as it develops.