OTTAWA - The leaders of Canada, Mexico and United States have a novel option for dealing with protesters: flip the channel.
Canadian officials who briefed reporters Thursday initially said that protesters would be allowed close to the hotel conference site in Montebello, Que., and would be visible to the leaders attending the North American summit next week.
But when pressed, they acknowledged that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Presidents George W. Bush and Felipe Calderon would actually only be seeing those outside the security fences by video link.
Harper's director of communications, Sandra Buckler, later said she understood the video-link decision was "in compliance with the court's decision that protesters have a right to be `seen and heard'.''
Access to the site by protesters has been just one of the litany of complaints surrounding the summit from activists, labour groups, academics and opposition politicians. The main bone of contention is the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), the two-year-old framework under which the North American leaders are pursuing greater trade and security integration.
Critics complain of secrecy around the talks and decision-making process, which largely takes place among bureaucrats of the various countries behind closed doors. A group of 30 top business people, the North American Competitiveness Council, directly advises the leaders.
"Mr. Harper didn't tell parliamentarians about the positions he's going to take on issues of great importance touching on prosperity, including trade and security, that have a direct impact on the population,'' said Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe.
"For example, on the issue of regulating pesticides, 90 per cent of the regulations in Canada are tougher than those in the United States. If those same standards were imposed on all the countries of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we'd be lowering our standards with serious consequences.''
Senior government officials -- who reporters were not permitted to quote -- insisted that there is nothing secretive about the SPP process, and most of it has to do with mundane projects such as harmonization of product labelling. They point out that various government working groups routinely consult with private and public stakeholders.
Few details were provided at Thursday's briefing on what is likely to be signed or accomplished by the leaders, although sources have said there will be an announcement of a co-ordinated North American emergency plan for avian and pandemic flu.
There will also be bilateral meetings. Harper and Bush are scheduled to talk about a range of issues, from security in the Arctic to what can be done to assist the peace process in the Middle East.
Canada and Mexico are poised to declare their intention to seek greater labour mobility for Mexican workers seeking jobs here.
One official pointed to a dedicated SPP website (www.spp.gc.ca) as evidence the Canadian government has been transparent about the process. But the website includes only vague references to any accomplishments the SPP has made, or the status of certain initiatives.
Mexico's ambassador to Canada, Emilio Goicoechea, acknowledged that the countries need to work on the image of the SPP. He said the issue would likely be discussed.
"So far, I think there's a challenge for the three countries to be more transparent, communicate better and include the involvement of the parliaments and congresses of the countries in order to make sure that nothing that's in there smells fishy.''
But he added that the SPP is simply a "trademark'' for a process that would have gone on among the countries regardless of whether a name had been attached to it. Suggesting it is an addendum to NAFTA is simply wrong, he said.
Security details around the conference have been sketchy, but protesters are being allowed into the immediate vicinity of the Chateau Montebello, a one-hour drive northeast of Ottawa. Tall steel barricades have been added to the grand hotel's existing fences, and two pockets have been set aside for demonstrations. Police, meanwhile, will be checking all cars coming into the area for explosives.
Veteran anti-globalization activist Jaggi Singh said Thursday that several hundred protesters are expected to make their way to Montebello next Monday and Tuesday.
"You have inside that fence leaders and delegates and rich people who are planning policies that are to the detriment of people who are outside the fence ... and somehow we're supposed to stay outside and we're supposed to be polite and just be ineffective in our protests?'' Singh said in Montreal.
