News Release from Canada CNW GROUP ( read it here)

Attention News/Assignment Editors:

Organizations make election plans to oppose Security and Prosperity Partnership

OTTAWA, March 30 /CNW Telbec/ – Canadian civil society groups concerned
about the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) between Canada, the U.S.
and Mexico are holding a press conference today outlining key problems with
the current corporate push for so-called “deeper integration.”
The Council of Canadians, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the
Parkland Institute and the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-CAN) are concerned that the SPP will have harmful effects on democracy,
job security, natural resources and the environment, and minority rights in
Canada and throughout North America.
In opposition to the SPP, the groups are demanding that the Canadian
government:

< < - Abolish the North American Competitiveness Council, the corporate advisory body driving the SPP process - Develop a concrete plan to protect the environment, energy and water in Canada - Ensure that civil liberties and rights are not compromised under the pretext of the U.S.-led war on terror - Make job security and higher standards of living for workers in Canada a priority - Submit the SPP to legislative review and meaningful consultation with the public >>

The organizations say they will make the SPP an election issue. They will
be joining many others this weekend in Ottawa at the first civil society
gathering on the SPP- a weekend teach-in organized by the Council of
Canadians, the Canadian Labour Congress and the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives.
“The SPP has allowed large corporations to impose their agenda on the
rest of us,” says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of
Canadians. “Over the next few days, civil society groups, academics and
activists will gather in Ottawa to share our concerns and discuss strategies
to ensure that our voices are heard during the next election and at the next
SPP leaders’ summit that will bring U.S. President George Bush and Mexican
President Felipe Calderon to Canada in August.”

For further information: Meera Karunananthan, Media Officer, Council of
Canadians, (613) 233-4487 ext 234, (613) 795-8685, meera@canadians.org;
www.integratethis.ca; Press conference at 10:30 am in Charles Lynch room,
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.

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