Log cabin turned to fortress for N America summit
Aug 20 09:26 AM US/Eastern




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The leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico will meet Monday for a two-day summit to bolster trilateral trade and security, far from the hostile gaze of demonstrators.
The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) talks aim to streamline regulations to boost trilateral trade and beef up North American security following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

It was launched at the first "Three Amigos" summit in Waco, Texas, in March 2005, but has been maligned since by activists, labor groups and academics who lament its business focus.

On Monday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will host US President George W. Bush and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon for its third installment at this luxury log cabin resort on the shores of the Ottawa River, 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Canada's capital.

Thirty top businessmen from Canada, the United States and Mexico have also been invited.

According to organizers of the SPP talks, Harper, Bush and Calderon will review current market turmoil, trade and security, and strategies to stem pandemics.


The three conservatives may also confer on product safety, following recent recalls of toys, dog food and toothpaste, and growing worries about defective "made in China" goods, imported into North America.

A lack of transparency in the negotiations, however, has provoked the ire of anti-globalization activists, environmentalists, peaceniks, and civil rights groups, all suspicious of the outcome.

"The United States is a friend and our closest ally, but not a model (for Canada)," said Canada's opposition leader Stephen Dion, accusing the prime minister of "an unacceptable lack of transparency and consultation" ahead of the talks in Montebello, Quebec.

"It's time to stop the (trilateral) negotiations from drifting into US control," Dion said.

A senior Canadian government official countered: "I don't think there is any intent to look for deeper integration (of North America)."

Rather, the three leaders would review progress on commitments made at their last meeting in Cancun, Mexico in 2006, she said.

Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators marched from Canada's parliament to the US and Mexican embassies in Ottawa, railing against the framework for greater security and economic integration of the three nations.

In Montebello, a fence three meters (10 feet) high and running 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) around the meeting place has been erected to keep the protestors out.


But several of them, refusing to be "caged" in a forest clearing set up for them by summit organizers, vowed to try to get closer to Bush, Harper and Calderon to make their views known in the coming days.

An audio-video feed of the protests set up by organizers in compliance with a Canadian court's decision that demonstrators have a right to be "seen and heard" is inadequate, they said.

A parallel counter-summit uniting academics and opposition MPs is also planned in Ottawa.

Mexico's President Calderon, arriving early, stayed with Harper and his family over the weekend at the Canadian prime minister's summer home.

According to a statement, the pair discussed "Latin America and exchanged points of view on the recent meetings they have held with various presidents in the region," as well as the Peru earthquake devastation.

Monday afternoon, US President Bush is expected to hold bilateral talks with his Canadian host, Harper, then meet separately with Calderon.

Bush and Harper are likely to discuss climate change, unrest in Afghanistan, and competing Arctic claims by Canada, the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway, officials said.

Calderon, meanwhile, is likely to ask for more US aid to curb drug trafficking, and propose a hike in the number of temporary worker visas issued by Canada to Mexican seasonal workers, now at 12,000 annually.

On Tuesday, the three leaders will hear from the North American Competitiveness Council on recommendations to boost the competitiveness of North America's automotive, transportation, manufacturing and services sectors.

Finally, Harper, Bush and Calderon are expected to meet as a group, and hold a press conference in mid-afternoon.



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