Maureen Lafrenière

In May 2007, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency would soon raise the allowable limits of residual pesticides on fruit and vegetables to harmonize with U.S. standards.

The reason, according to the head of the PMRA, is that differences in standards between the two countries are considered a potential ‘trade irritant.’ The U.S. has higher residue levels for 40 per cent of its regulated pesticides; in 10 per cent of these cases, the Canadian maximum is higher. This type of harmonization was already underway as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but the process is now being fast-tracked under the Security and Prosperity Partnership.

What is the SPP?
First signed in March 2005 by President George W. Bush, (then) President Vicente Fox, and (then) Prime Minister Paul Martin, the Partnership is described on the Government of Canada’s website as “a means by which Canada, the United States and Mexico can work together to find approaches that address common issues.” Affirming that “the security and prosperity of a country go hand in hand,” the purpose of the agreement is to ensure that “the continent as a whole remains secure against external threats and criminal activity” and that the three countries are “working together to remove duplication and therefore reduce costs and burdens on exporters, importers and travelers.”

The SPP is divided into two agendas, each with a set of goals/working groups:

Security Agenda
(under the Minister of Public Safety)*

1. Traveller Security
2. Cargo Security
3. Border Facilitation
4. Aviation Security
5. Maritime Security
6. Law Enforcement
7. Intelligence Co-operation
8. Bio-protection
9. Protection, Preparedness & Response
10. Science & Technology

Prosperity Agenda
(under the Minister of Industry)*

1. E-Commerce and Information & Communications Technologies
2. Energy
3. Environment
4. Financial Services
5. Food & Agriculture Regulatory Systems
6. Health
7. Manufactured Goods and Sectoral & Regional Competitiveness
8. Movement of Goods
9. Transportation

Opponents of the SPP complain that the agreement is currently being implemented in the absence of any parliamentary or public debate or input, and is being ignored by the mainstream media. Given its broad scope and potential impact on Canadians, a coalition of organizations is promising to make the issue prominent in the next federal election.

According to the federal government’s SPP web page, the only consultative input in this process is from the North American Competitiveness Council. The 30 members of this group – 10 CEOs from major corporations from each country – are appointed by government. As a group, the NACC submits ‘strategic recommendations’, for policy and/or regulatory changes or other actions (by one or more of the signatories), each with a time frame for completion. These objectives are carried out by the appropriate ‘inter-departmental’ working groups, whose membership is not known.

There’s more
A number of organizations in Canada and the U.S. suggest that the SPP is the first of several steps that would ultimately lead to a politically and economically assimilated North American continent with a single currency and citizenship. Commonly called ‘deep integration’, it is modeled after the European Union.

A series of secret meetings between business and government leaders from Canada, Mexico and the United States on this issue was exposed by the Council of Canadians through a leaked document titled the “North American Future 2025 Project”. The issues under discussion included:

• bulk water “transfers and artificial diversions”;
• accelerated development of the Alberta tar sands;
• a “North American natural gas vision”;
• an integrated electrical grid;
• a harmonization of immigration and refugee policies;
• the creation of a “North American security perimeter.”

Another agreement, seen by many as one more stepping stone toward a North American union, is TILMA (Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement), an inter-provincial partnership between British Columbia and Alberta, which took effect on April 1, 2007.

The two primary goals of the deal, as described by the Government of British Columbia, are the removal of “government measures that restrict or impair trade, investment or labour mobility between the two provinces” and the elimination of “preferential treatment of a province’s people, investments and goods ...”

Critics are drawing parallels between TILMA’s investor provisions and NAFTA’s Chapter 11, which permits legal challenges to regulations that may inhibit one’s capacity to make a profit. Under TILMA, individuals may claim compensation of up to $5 million if a government law or regulation restricts or impairs an investment. On April 1, 2009, this legally binding agreement will be extended to regional and local governments, crown corporations and government-owned enterprises, school boards, as well as all publicly-funded health and education “entities”.

Although promoted initially as a British Columbia-Alberta pact that would provide a singular trade advantage to that region within Canada, the federal government is encouraging other provinces to sign on.

The Council of Canadians is demanding that the Canadian government cease participation in talks on North American integration until a parliamentary debate and public consultation can take place. It is also organizing a campaign to bring the issue to the attention of the public, including an event on August 20, 2007, in Montebello, Québec, where the next leaders’ summit meeting on the SPP took place.

References:
Kelly Patterson: “Canada raising limits on pesticide residues” – CanWest News Service (article available at www.canada.com)

The Canadian Government’s SPP web site is: http://www.spp-psp.gc.ca/menu-en.aspx

The 2006 SPP progress report is available at http://www.spp-psp.gc.ca/progress/prosperity_08 _06-en.aspx

NACC Report, Enhancing Competitiveness in Canada, Mexico and the United States: Private-Sector Priorities for the SPP of North America (Feb 2007): http://www.spp-psp.gc.ca/ progress/consultations-en.aspx

Council of Canadians: “Leaked document reveals bulk water exports to be discussed at continental integration talks” – from Canadian Dimension Magazine, April 2007 (http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2007/04/17/1052/)

http://www.canadians.org/water/documents/NA_Future_2025.pdf

http://www.gov.bc.ca/ecdev/down/BC-AB_TILMA_Agreement-signed.pdf

http://www.tilma.ca/

The hot link for the NACC on the federal government’s SPP web page leads to the site of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (http://www.ceocouncil.ca/)

Other resources, pro and con SPP:

Common Frontiers is a working group and forum on the issue of economic integration of the Americas and alternatives. It brings together labour, human rights, environmental, church and social justice: http://www. commonfrontiers.ca

http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/

http://www.americanpolicy.org/

http://www.cdhowe.org/display.cfm?page=press

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=North_American_Union