MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2006
Council denounces unprecedented power handed to big business at Summit
Ottawa - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has taken Canada further down the road of continental integration - a move that will further erode Canada’s ability to make decisions independent of the United States and in the interests of citizens, says the Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest citizens’ advocacy group.
The so-called “Three Amigos Summit,” which wrapped up in Cancun this morning, dramatically advanced the agenda of deep integration by making the three governments directly answerable to a new North American Competitiveness Council and mandating ministers to meet with business leaders - an unprecedented development.
This latest development clearly puts business leaders in the driver’s seat and gives them the green light to press forward for a North American model for business security and prosperity.
“Stephen Harper brought Canadian CEOs with him to Cancun and yet there has been no public consultation and no parliamentary debate,” says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “Harper campaigned on ‘standing up for Canada’ but he has proven, at this summit, that he is standing up for the corporate sector without regard for what the public really wants or needs.”
Continental integration profoundly hinders Canada’s ability to make independent decisions. It is about harmonizing our approach to domestic and foreign policy issues with the United States.
The Council of Canadians is calling on Prime Minister Harper to cease all negotiations on continental integration.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2006
Council denounces unprecedented power handed to big business at Summit
Ottawa - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has taken Canada further down the road of continental integration - a move that will further erode Canada’s ability to make decisions independent of the United States and in the interests of citizens, says the Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest citizens’ advocacy group.
The so-called “Three Amigos Summit,” which wrapped up in Cancun this morning, dramatically advanced the agenda of deep integration by making the three governments directly answerable to a new North American Competitiveness Council and mandating ministers to meet with business leaders - an unprecedented development.
This latest development clearly puts business leaders in the driver’s seat and gives them the green light to press forward for a North American model for business security and prosperity.
“Stephen Harper brought Canadian CEOs with him to Cancun and yet there has been no public consultation and no parliamentary debate,” says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “Harper campaigned on ‘standing up for Canada’ but he has proven, at this summit, that he is standing up for the corporate sector without regard for what the public really wants or needs.”
Continental integration profoundly hinders Canada’s ability to make independent decisions. It is about harmonizing our approach to domestic and foreign policy issues with the United States.
The Council of Canadians is calling on Prime Minister Harper to cease all negotiations on continental integration.
