Suncor and SPP Targeted by Climate Change Containment Unit (CCCU).

PRESS RELEASE

Suncor and SPP Targeted by Climate Change Containment Unit (CCCU).

For Immediate release
August 7, 2008

Members of AW@L's CCCU Shut Down Local Sunoco Gas Station for their role in the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and continued Environmental Destruction from the Alberta Tar Sands.
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WATERLOO – This afternoon at 4pm, members of Anti-War@Laurier (AW@L)'s Climate Change Containment Unit (CCCU) shut down the Sunoco gas station at the intersection of Phillip and Columbia. Sunoco's parent company, Suncor, "is guilty of rampant environmental destruction for the benefit of a small group of political and corporate elites," stated CCCU agent Jen Evans. "Suncor is a leading offender in the development of the tar sands in northern Alberta—an inherently unsustainable and destructive process fueling climate change and pollution." Further, Suncor is also a representative on the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC) which is the primary directive body for the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). "The SPP puts control of resources, security policy, trade, labour and immigration regulation into the hands of major corporations and puts the welfare of big business over that of communities and citizens," said AW@L representative Adam Lewis.

The SPP is an agreement between heads of state from Canada, Mexico and the United States that was signed in March 2005 without any public consent or debate in the House of Commons or the American Congress and Senate. The SPP aims at the deep integration and expansion of NAFTA-style trade and regulatory policies within the three countries, and an extension of American security agendas and practices throughout the continent. The SPP is neither technically treaty nor law, but is a guiding framework for policy and continental agreement; its only formal guiding body is the NACC which is made up of representatives from 10 major corporations from each country—explicitly excluding governmental oversight. Nine of ten representatives from Canada are also on the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE). The ten Canadian CEOs who were handpicked by the Prime Minister to represent Canada on the NACC are Suncor Energy Inc, Manulife Financial, Power Corp of Canada, Ganong Bros Ltd, CN, Linamar Corp, Bell Canada Enterprises, Canfor Corp, Home Depot, and Scotia Bank.

Jen Evans explained that "in addition to many other detrimental factors, the SPP calls for a fivefold expansion of oil production in the tar sands of Northern Alberta which produces five times the greenhouse gas emissions as conventional methods and is a major contributor to climate change globally." In addition, for every barrel of oil that is produced from tar sands extraction, 3-5 barrels of water are required, up to 60% of which can never be returned to the ecosystem and remains held in massive containment ponds the size of large lakes held back by dams, some of which are large enough in size to rival the Three Gorges Dam in China. Collecting that water requires major diversions from and massive pollution to the Athabasca River and local ecosystems.

AW@L rep Adam Lewis stressed the importance of recognizing that Tar Sands development is proceeding under heavy protest from local Indigenous communities including the Lubicon, Dene, and others. "The Tar Sands are a prime example of how Indigenous communities have historically suffered the most direct and detrimental impacts of land destruction and pollution; it is a blatant case of environmental racism and a contributor to ongoing colonialism in Canada." Lewis also noted that the SPP calls for harmonization of migrant labour policies as well as trade regulation and practices. He called attention to the plan for transcontinental corridors that will move labour and goods in and out of Northern Alberta. As many as 30 000 migrant guest-workers are planned to be brought in to facilitate the expansion, however "these workers will have no status or rights in this country and will allow the oil companies to drive down wages in the region," said Lewis. Further, the recently signed Civil Assistance Plan (CAP) enables the SPP plan to bring in American military personnel to provide security for (amongst other things) construction of the highways and pipelines that will comprise the transcontinental corridors, part of what Lewis described as "the ongoing Americanization and militarization of Canada."

On April 1, AW@L and the CCCU shut down a local Shell station, calling to attention that company's involvement in Tar Sands production and expansion. AW@L is a collection of individual activists from around Kitchener-Waterloo and the Laurier/UW community who are joined in a commitment to create positive change in the world through non-violent direct action. AW@L is deeply concerned with challenging environmental degradation, promoting a culture of peace and opposing an ultimately self-destructive reliance upon a culture of war, and helping to highlight issues of Indigenous rights. AW@L believes that in the name of environmental sustainability and democratic oversight Canadians should demand an immediate end to all Tar Sands expansion, a complete repeal of the SPP and cancellation of the final ratification round of SPP meetings scheduled for 2010.

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Contact: antiwar@peaceculture.org
AW@L's Website: www.peaceculture.org