The Truth Revealed

When the prime minister of Canada and the presidents of the United States and Mexico met recently in New Orleans, all pretence of democracy vanished. The president of Mexico most candidly summarized his day by saying "This morning, the business leaders gave us a specific agenda to follow...We are here to support them through."

If anyone still had doubts about the true nature of the Security Prosperity Partnership (SPP), this honest confession sets the record straight. The prime minister of Canada, the president of the United States and the president of Mexico take their orders from big business. As a result, the well-being of working families in all three countries and Canadian control of Canada's petroleum resources are on the chopping block. Harper, Bush and Calderón are business' agents.

Just as in the previous meetings in Waco, Cancun and Montebello, the fourth SPP meeting held in New Orleans entertained, behind closed doors, the group called the North American Competitiveness Council made up of the top 30 corporations and CEOs in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada including corporate giants Walmart, Haliburton, Lockheed Martin and Bell. They outlined for their agents the regulatory agenda for all three countries. Nothing is done democratically.

The SPP is meant to extend and expand the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) without involving the public nor any legislative body. This fourth SPP meeting focused on energy, in particular privatizing public power and giving our natural resources away to big corporations. For Canada, this will mean an increased loss of sovereignty over our oil, our environment and even the workers who rely on those jobs.

In all three countries, deregulated and/or privatized energy has been a failure. Privatized energy has lead to increased cost of energy, making it increasingly unaffordable for working families. Moreover, privatized energy systems have lead to a failure of national and provincial governments to invest in public infrastructures. In each horrific case, the public was left paying the bill because trade deals like the SPP guarantee private profit and public liability.

Energy policies need to focus on environmental stewardship, the rights for energy workers and the citizens' rights to access energy. That's why, in all three countries, organizations like the Canadian Labour Congress that put people before profit, work to slow down and stop this business agenda. We must ensure that workers, workers' rights, and protecting our environment, drive the relationship between our three countries.

We elect governments, not agents for business. It's time to move from the Mexican president's candid admission to an agenda that serves the people. After all, all three countries are supposed to be democracies.