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 The ABCs of the SPPAn introduction to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of NorthAmerica

In March 2005, as a result of intense lobbying from North America’s richest corporations, the leaders of 

Canada, Mexico and the United States met in Waco, Texas to shake hands on the Security and Prosperity

Partnership of North America (SPP). The SPP was a pledge to speed up the corporate goal of continental

economic integration by linking it to U.S. government security demands.

In a post-9/11 world where, for the Bush administration, “security trumps trade,” the Canadian and Mexican

governments have agreed to fully integrate their security apparatuses with the U.S. and fully participate in

its “war on terror” in return for vague assurances of continued market access for their largest corporations.But the SPP goes much further than this. Plans for regulatory convergence, energy sector integration and

a potential common external tariff will make independent Canadian policies on agriculture, the environment

and energy impossible.

Since March 2005, without public input and with little public awareness, all three North American govern-

ments have been moving quickly toward establishing a continental resource pact, a North American security

perimeter, and common agricultural and other health, safety and environmental policies. Working groups

comprised of government ofcials and corporate leaders are quietly putting this “partnership” into action,

and to date only industry “stakeholders” have been consulted, often in private, closed-door meetings. Not

even our elected Members of Parliament have been kept in the loop.

The rst report of the SPP in 2005 described how all future decisions affecting Canada-U.S.-Mexico rela-

tions would be made: “meetings” for business, “consultations” for stakeholders and “briengs” for Parlia-

ment. In other words, there would be no legislative debate on the SPP and the public would be left out of the

picture completely. North America’s corporate elite, on the other hand, has a permanent seat at the table.

A public-private sector dialogue on the SPP from January 2006 talked about “marrying policy issues with

business priorities,” and establishing a permanent all-CEO working group to guide future discussions on

integration. Lo and behold, a few months later, the Canadian, American and Mexican governments handed

the private sector complete control of the SPP process by creating the North American Competitiveness

Council (NACC).

On top of ofcial SPP meetings, corporate leaders have been colluding with top military brass and govern-

ment ofcials from all three countries at secret meetings on integration like the North American Forum. InSeptember 2006, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day joined a host of Canadian, U.S. and Mexican military

ofcers and other government reps to discuss things like “Demographic and Social Dimensions of North

American Integration.” Leaked documents show that at least one participant said that integration will happen

as a process of “evolution by stealth.” In April 2006, another closed-door meeting related to the SPP, organ-

ized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and paid for by the U.S. government, discussed

bulk water exports from Canada to the U.S.

But the SPP is not just high-level policy talk. It is already affecting our lives directly. In early 2007, an SPP

priority to harmonize rules on pesticide residues resulted in Canada allowing higher levels of pesticides in

the food we eat. The SPP’s goal of creating a North American no-y list means that air travelers are be-

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 Are you concerned about the SPP? Visit www.canadians.org, or phone us at

1-800-387-7177, for more information on what you can do to ght deep integration.

ing stopped from boarding their ights just because their names resemble one of almost half a million people U.S.

ofcials implausibly consider an immediate threat. And the SPP’s plan for a vefold increase in Alberta tar sands

production makes it impossible for Canada to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – putting everyone at increased risk

from climate change. Clearly the public needs a much larger say in these kinds of decisions.

Those pushing the SPP, be they senior government ministers, top bureaucrats or members of the business elite, have

had it pretty easy so far. They shrug off criticism of the “partnership” by claiming that the SPP is about making this

continent safer and more prosperous. But if the SPP were really about everyone’s security and everyone’s prosperity,

our leaders would have included more than just a handful of North America’s richest CEOs in the discussion.

If the leaders of North America are not prepared to speak with their own citizens about decisions that affect every-

one’s security and prosperity, then we must force them to listen to what we have to say about the SPP. This report is

intended to inform the discussion around the SPP and to fuel the public debate. We need to raise this issue with our 

friends, family, local city councilors and other elected representatives. The facts on the SPP speak for themselves.

Together, we can make sure that Canada says no to the SPP and no to the integration agenda behind it.