Police officers keep watch over the security fence at the Chateau Montebello, Que., Sunday, Aug. 19. The small Quebec town is under high security as Prime Minister Stephen Harper hosts a two-day meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon starting Aug. 20. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Media

AUDIO: CBC's Curt Petrovich on the controversy surrounding the SPP (Runs 1:44)

VIDEO: CBC's Joan Leishman explains how the SPP process works (Runs 10:28)

To hear some people talk, the Security and Prosperity Partnership meetings are nothing to get worked up about.

Thomas D'Aquino, of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, has said the issues discussed at the SPP are "quite important but frankly quite boring. They're not terribly exciting."

David Bohigian, the American assistant secretary of commerce for market access and compliance, told the magazine The Nation that the SPP is mostly concerned with bureaucratic minutiae and standards harmonization.

"For instance, in the U.S., we sell baby food in several different sizes; in Canada, it's just two different sizes," he told the magazine.

But if it's all boring bureaucracy and baby food jars, why are thousands of protestors expected to show up in Montebello, Que., a small town halfway between Ottawa and Montreal, for the third leaders' meeting under the SPP?

What is the SPP?

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was created in March 2005 to boost co-operation on security, trade and public-health issues between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

The U.S. government website on the SPP says, "The co-operative efforts under the SPP … seek to make the United States, Canada and Mexico open to legitimate trade and closed to terrorism and crime."

The SPP identifies two separate agendas: The security agenda and the prosperity agenda. In Canada, these are led by the public safety minister and the industry minister, respectively. The foreign affairs minister, meanwhile, oversees Canada's relationship with the rest of North America, including the SPP.

The Canadian government's FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) says the "SPP is not an agreement or treaty" but a "dialogue," and on that point, the government and its critics agree.

Because the SPP is not a treaty, like the North American Free Trade Agreement, it doesn't require changes in law or a vote in Parliament.

The Council of Canadians, a group that opposes what they call "deep integration" with the United States, calls the SPP "the political manifestation of a corporate plan for economic and security integration that was never voted on in any country."

What's happening in Montebello?

The leaders of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico meet annually to discuss issues that fall under the SPP and which ones will be priorities in the coming year. Previous meetings occurred in Waco, Texas, in March 2005 and Cancun, Mexico, in March 2006.

In a statement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said, "In Montebello, we will discuss, among other things, the competitiveness of our businesses, energy and the environment, the efficiency of our borders and our preparedness for emergencies and disasters."

A press secretary for U.S. President George W. Bush had a slightly different set of topics for the talks: "enhancing global competitiveness, safety of food and products, sustainable energy and the environment, smart and secure borders, as well as energy management."

Thousands of protesters opposed to the SPP are expected to demonstrate in Montebello. In preparation, a four-metre metal fence has been erected between the Fairmont Château Montebello, where the meeting will take place, and the protesters.

The owner of a local bar, called the Bar Centrale, but known to locals as "the White House," has also erected a fence around his business. A four-metre high replica of the Statue of Liberty on the front lawn has been encased in a protective plywood box.

Who gets a say in the SPP?

The Canadian government SPP website says that "consultations occur at many levels," although the only specific group it mentions having presented recommendations to it is the North American Competitiveness Council.

The NACC is a group of 30 CEOs from each of the three North American countries, representing some of the biggest corporations in the world. Most of the Canadian representatives are members of D'Aquino's group, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.

This close consultation with corporate interests is the source of much of the opposition to the SPP in Canada.

Who is opposed to the SPP?

Opposition to the SPP exists in all three countries and on either end of the political spectrum.

Progressive groups, particularly in Canada, say the SPP amounts to Canada's deep integration with the United States.

The Council of Canadians says the SPP is anti-democratic, makes Canadians less secure and ties Canada to the U.S. "war on terror." The Council is also concerned about the SPP discussions about bulk water exports from Canada to the U.S.

The NDP has said it has concerns about the SPP's "lack of transparency and democratic oversight." NDP trade critic Peter Julian has tabled a motion calling for public consultations and full Parliamentary oversight of the SPP.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has demanded that Harper reject trade deals involving bulk water exports and insist that the U.S. crack down on gun smuggling into Canada.

Conservative groups, particularly in the U.S., fear that the SPP is a step toward less sovereignty for each country, leading to a North American union in the style of the European Union.

High-profile opponents in the U.S. include CNN anchor and commentator Lou Dobbs, the conservative magazine Human Events and the John Birch Society.

Robert Pastor, director of the Center for North American Studies at American University in Washington, D.C., says American xenophobia is behind the fear of the SPP. Pastor, some of whose ideas form the basis of the SPP, says he receives dozens of e-mails weekly threatening him and calling him a traitor.

Opposition in the U.S. is not limited to right wing groups, though. Democrats and Republicans in Congress joined forces to pass an amendment to a bill on transportation appropriations "prohibiting the use of funds to participate in a working group pursuant to the Security and Prosperity Partnership."

Chris Sands of the Hudson Institute, a public policy think tank, says keeping Congress out of the loop was a mistake on Bush's part.

"That's only made them angrier," he said. "They're now talking about shutting everything down until they can find out what's really going on and decide whether they approve it."

What are the accomplishments of the SPP?

On the Canadian government's website about the SPP, some of the agreement's accomplishments are listed:

• Initiatives that make it easier to ship goods across the border.
• Strategies to limit the impact of disasters and allow for a more co-ordinated international response and a faster recovery.
• International co-operation on intelligence, law enforcement, transportation security and border management to help reduce criminal activity and terror risks.
• Reduction of transit times by 50 per cent at the Detroit-Windsor gateway, the largest border crossing point between Canada and the U.S.

Not listed is a planned "harmonization" of pesticide limits between Canada and the U.S., which would raise the acceptable level of pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables.

The SPP's 2006 prosperity report identified "differences in pesticide maximum residue limits" as "barriers to trade."