Mobilize and Protest against George Bush, Stephen Harper and Felipe Calderon at the meeting of the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (SPP)
:::::::::: AUGUST 19-21, 2007 MONTEBELLO, QUEBEC (Between Ottawa and Montreal) ::::::::::::::: DAYS OF ACTIONS IN MONTEBELLO (August 19&20) :::::
- Sunday, August 19 – Creative resistance and popular education against the SPP August 19 will be a day of creative resistance and popular education against the SPP in the Montebello-area. We encourage affinity groups to organize autonomous actions within the framework of creative resistance, and call on individuals to join in a collective action of popular education. More details to come. Transport is planned for the 19th (return or one-way; more details under transport and housing below). - Monday, August 20, NOON – Protest and disruption of Bush, Harper, Calderon and the SPP We call on affinity groups, organizations and individuals to mobilize in large numbers for a main Day of Action against the meeting of Bush, Harper, Calderon and the SPP that will take place on MONDAY, AUGUST 20 AT NOON (please note the new time) at the Chateau Montebello (or as close as possible to Montebello). - Montebello, Quebec is a tourist village between Ottawa and Montreal, on Highway 148, on the Ottawa River. MAPS of the region, including Montebello itself, are linked at: http://www.psp-spp.com/?q=en/image/tid/18 - TRANSPORTATION to Montebello is being organized from Montreal for August 19 & 20; e-mail transportmontebello@gmail.com to reserve a space. Please reserve BEFORE August 12. More info about transportation at: http://www.psp-spp.com/?q=en/node/97 Transportation to Montebello is also being organized from Ottawa ( transportottawa@gmail.com), Quebec City ( autobusquebec@gmail.com) and Toronto (bushbus2007@gmail.com ). - ACCOMMODATIONS: A location for basic accommodations will be available for demonstrators in the Montebello-area. Accommodations will be available for people who wish to participate in both days of action, and also for those who want to arrive earlier to plan actions and awareness-raising activities in the Montebello-area. More details to come. POSTERS, FLYERS and other materials for download, printing and distribution are available at: http://www.psp-spp.com/?q=en/taxonomy/term/5MORE INFORMATION:
- CONSULTA, AUGUST 12 A final planning and organizing CONSULTA is scheduled for SUNDAY, August 12 from 12-5pm in room R-M 110 at UQAM (315 Ste-Catherine East, near St-Denis). More info: http://www.psp-spp.com/?q=en/node/140 - ACTIONS AGAINST THE SPP IN MONTREAL (August 14 & 16) As part of a National Week of Action Against the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) from August 13 to 17 there will be two actions in Montreal, against CN rail and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS): *** AUGUST 14, NOON – CN: Stop your racist lawsuits! Protest the Central Train Station (metro Bonaventure). Support indigenous struggles for sovereignty, dignity and self-determination on Turtle Island ... Oppose CN Rail's racism and colonialism ... Protest Bush, Harper, Calderon and the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (SPP). More information: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2007/07/ cn-rail-drop-your-racist-lawsuits.html ***AUGUST 16, NOON – Protest against CSIS and the SPP, Dorchester Square (Rene-Levesque and Peel, metro Peel). The People's Assembly against Security Injustice invite you to a demonstration to denounce the role of the Canadian and Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)in the criminalization, harassment and profiling of refugees, immigrants and non-status people. CSIS feeds a culture a fear and suspicion that the state uses to justify the expansion of surveillance and control on the agenda of the SPP. Info: rpcis.mtl@gmail.com - COMMUNITY ASSEMBLIES (August 1, 4, 11 & 13) A series of COMMUNITY ASSEMBLIES to discuss the impacts of the Security & Prosperity Partnership (SPP), especially on immigrant, migrant, refugee and indigenous communities will take place in Montreal on August 1, 4, 11 & 13. More info: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2007/07/ community-assemblies-no-security.html - BENEFIT SHOW (August 9) A benefit show with Genr'radical and Bernard et ses désaccords! At L'Alizée (900 Ontario est), 8pm. More info: http://www.antipatriarcat.org/radical/ - BRIGADES FESTIVES (August 11) The info/popular education committee is organizing "Brigades Festives" in local neighbourhoods, to raise awareness about the SPP. The first Brigade took place in Parc Extension this past July 29 (photos at: http://photos.cmaq.net/v/brigade-festif/) The next Brigade will be in Côte-des-Neiges on August 11. More details to be posted at: http://www.psp-spp.com/?q=en/node/21::::: GET INFORMED. GET ORGANIZED. GET INVOLVED. :::::
For up-to-date information, subscribe to our announcements list by visiting: https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/psp Please phone or email for more info, or to get involved with organizing efforts (popular education, mobilization, logistics, transportation, fundraising and more!): E-MAIL: info@psp-spp.com WEB: http://www.psp-spp.com (visit frequently for updates) TEL: 514-848-7583::::: BACKGROUNDER :::::
This August, George Bush, Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon will be just 90 minutes from Montreal, in Montebello, Quebec. They are meeting at the Chateau Montebello, as part of the so-called "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (aka the "Three Amigos" Summit). They talk about "security" and "prosperity", but their agenda really means insecurity and misery for working and oppressed peoples in the Americas. In brief, the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (SPP) combines the destructive neo-liberal policies of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the fear and paranoia of post 9-11 "Homeland Security" policies. The SPP is firmly rooted within a colonial and capitalist framework. The SPP is described by its proponents as a "NAFTA 2.0", and is promoted and supported by corporations and their lobby groups, like the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. A group of 30 corporate executives from the NAFTA countries comprise the North American Competitiveness Council, which was set up "to fully incorporate the private sector into the SPP process" (to cite the SPP's own words). Moreover, because the SPP announces itself as a "dialogue based on shared values," it is secretive process, subject to no formal public scrutiny or open debate. There is no mystery to the SPP agenda: murderous wars and occupations abroad; border militarization; increased detentions and deportations; attacks on indigenous peoples, the poor, migrants, and working people; ecological destruction; mega-projects in the service of corporate greed; and unfortunately, much more and worse. The SPP reinforces the idea of "Fortress North America", whereby the rich and privileged live in gated communities and gentrified cities, protected by police and security, with easy movement for capital between borders; for the rest, there's border fences, detention centers, prisons, surveillance, and increased precarity. This August, protests are being organized by anti-capitalist social justice activists in Ontario and Quebec, within the framework of the People's Global Action (PGA) Network. With organizing hubs in Ottawa and Montreal, on either end of Montebello on the Highway 148, we are preparing to resist the upcoming SPP meeting. We are not going to lobby the SPP leaders or governments to be nicer. Justice and dignity is achieved through grassroots mobilizing and struggle, not the charity of rich philanthropists, rock-stars or politicians complicit in a destructive system. When George Bush, Stephen Harper and Felipe Calderon try to meet at the Chateau Montebello, we are going to protest and try to disrupt their meeting. There will be activities from August 19-21, with a call for a convergence on Montebello (or as close as possible to Montebello) on 3pm on MONDAY, AUGUST 20. An anti-capitalist camp will be set up in the Montebello region in early August, as a convergence space for activists who want to gather early to plan popular and actions. - More info at: www.psp-spp.com Our protests are rooted in our ongoing mobilizing efforts and day-to-day organizing: for indigenous sovereignty and self-determination in the Americas, for immigrant justice and free movement, against deportations and detentions, against war and imperialism, for workers justice, against poverty, for ecological and environmental justice, for the liberation of all political prisoners, in solidarity with social justice movements worldwide. On January 1, 1994, the day that NAFTA took effect, the Zapatistas began an uprising in southern Mexico, declaring NAFTA a "death sentence" on indigenous peoples. With the SPP, the politicians, bureaucrats and corporations of North America have renewed their death-sentence on all of us. The inspiration of the Zapatistas still resonates, 13 years later, as we make links between our struggles and issues, and unify to confront the SPP at Montebello, and beyond.E-MAIL: info@psp-spp.com WEB: http://www.psp-spp.com (visit frequently for updates) TEL: 514-848-7583