Confronting Globalization in Montreal
Posted at this URL: http://www.ainfos.ca/99/may/ainfos00216.html
From: Jaggi Singh <jaggi@tao.ca>
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 22:52:25 -0400 (EDT)
Note: For me it was not surprising to find out that Charles Sirois is hobnobbing with the global "usury" elite BUT I was somewhat dismayed to have conformation of my suspicion. These are the possibilities. (a) Charles Sirois is one of them - unfortunately (b) Charles Sirois was a "token" guest at the "Free Trade at 10" Conference in Montreal on June 4/5th, 1999. (c) Charles Sirois is a "white knight." If there was a better organized SDI company which could deliver quality telecommunications services then I would choose it BUT since Excel is the optimal SDI choice in Canada at this time The Nousury Network is choosing to ride the Excel SDI vehicle.
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CONFRONTING CAPITALIST GLOBALIZATION IN MONTREAL
THE CONFERENCE DE MONTREAL AND "FREE TRADE AT 10"
CITY TO BE INVADED BY "FREE" TRADE APOLOGISTS
by Jaggi Singh <jaggi@tao.ca> for A-infos, the Direct Action Media Network and act-montreal
[The author freely grants permission to all left-wing, progressive and radical groups to reprint and repost this article
with acknowledgment and notification by e-mail.]
MONTREAL, May 25, 1999 -- IMF ... WTO ... GATT ... FTA ... NAFTA ... FTAA
... MAI ... TEP ... OECD ... APEC ... the institutions and agreements that drive corporate-style globalization are a veritable
alphabet soup. However, for the past few years, radical activists in Montréal have had their own tangible local symbol of
globalization: The "Conférence de Montréal on Globalized Economies".
The 5th Annual Conférence is being held again this year at the downtown Sheraton Centre Hotel between May 30 and
June 2. The gathering brings together an assortment of business executives, politicians and high-level bureaucrats.
If that wasn't enough, between June 4-5, another conference -- organized by McGill University's Institute for the Study of
Canada -- is being convened at Montréal's Renaissance Hotel du Parc. Dubbed "Free Trade At 10, NAFTA At 5," this
corporate confab will bring together an A-list of free trade apologists, including the much reviled former Canadian Prime
Minister, Brian Mulroney, and former US President George Bush. [A full list of Conférence de Montréal and Free Trade
At 10 speakers is appended below.]
* * *
The chosen theme of this year's Conférence de Montréal is "The Americas and the 21st Century" as participants, at a cost
of more than $1000 per person, strategize about how to better profit from the emerging markets of Latin America.
The conference theme also complements the secretive negotiations of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which
aims to extend NAFTA to all countries in the Western hemisphere except Cuba. The current round of negotiations is
sponsored by Canada.
In addition to senior leaders and officials from the US, Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela,
this year's special Conférence speaker is Michel Camdessus, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF). Notorious for its big-business driven "structural adjustment programs" imposed on Third World countries, the IMF,
along with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank, comprises the Holy Trinity of modern-day capitalism.
Of course, CEOs and executives affiliated with Conférence sponsors will play a central role at the gathering, representing
companies like Bombardier, the Power Corporation, Hydro Québec, BCE, the Royal Bank, KMPG and the Montréal Stock
Exchange. Not surprisingly, the Conférence is being generously supported by the Government of Canada and "Team Canada
Incorporated." Conférence "partners" include the Business Council on National Issues (BCNI), the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA), the Ecole des hautes études commerciales (HEC) and the pro-corporate University of British
Columbia (which hosted the notorious 1997 APEC Conference).
Each year, organizers are careful to choose a token leftist (or, what's more descriptively expressed in French as "un gauchiste
au service") to give the Conférence an air of political diversity. This year's choice is, Gérald Larose, the outgoing head of the
reformist Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux [CSN -- Confederation of National Trade Unions]. He takes over the
token role played by Alexa McDonough, leader of the social-democratic New Democratic Party (dubbed "The No
Difference Party" by Canada's left), at last year's gathering.
* * *
Previous Conférence de Montréal's have been met by effective grassroots resistance by local Montreal activists. In 1996,
the Conférence's honoured guest was former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. He was the target of a citizen's arrest
-- for crimes against humanity in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, East Timor, Chile and other countries -- by the Canevas direct
action collective. [A similar arrest attempt was made again this year on May 18 in Toronto.]
Last year, the Conférence's special guest was Donald Johnston. He was the then-head of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), at which the notorious Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) -- described
by some activists as "NAFTA on steroids" -- was being negotiated in secret. In response, a coalition of local activists formed
Opération SalAMI and organized an awareness-raising campaign about the MAI. [AMI is the French acronym for the MAI.
"Sal" means bad, dirty or "no good."]
Opération SalAMI's activities included the publication and distribution of a newspaper, a night-time street party on the eve
of May 1st outside the Stock Exchange (which was repeated again this year with much success), and a two-day parallel
conference on alternatives to globalization.
Opération SalAMI culminated in the successful blockade of the Conférence last May 25 by hundreds of activists, and the
subsequent arrest of close to 100 demonstrators by Montréal's riot police. The SalAMI defendants are still awaiting a verdict
for their actions after an eight-day political trial this past March.
* * *
This year, like 1996 and 1998, local resistance to the big business agenda of the Conférence de Montréal continues ...
The Comité des sans-emplois [the Committee of the Unemployed], an anti-poverty group based in the East-End "Centre-Sud"
neighbourhood, is organizing a demonstration at the Conférence which will begin at 8am on Monday, May 31 at the Sheraton
Hotel. Their no-bullshit slogan is: "The rich are rich because we are poor!"
The last time the Comité organized an action at a downtown hotel, they caused an international sensation. Last December 1997,
a "Commando Bouffe" [Food Commando] appropriated steaming platters of food from the posh Queen Elizabeth Hotel's
lunchtime buffet and served meals to the over one-hundred people who had assembled for the occasion. All participants were
eventually arrested by the riot police at this inspiring direct action against poverty and hunger. [A trial has yet to be held for the
participants that are still facing criminal charges ranging from theft to conspiracy.]
This year's action at the Sheraton Hotel could be just as eventful, and will certainly be an unequivocal statement against the
agenda of big capital by an active group representing Montréal's underclass.
* * *
Meanwhile, activists from Opération SalAMI are returning to the Conférence for a second year. However, instead of a
large-scale civil disobedience action, SalAMI is planning a public Teach-In to take place outside the Sheraton Hotel
on June 1. The educational event will include more than 30 participatory workshops, at four different locations, on a
wide range of topics relating to globalization and popular resistance.
Participants are being urged to bring their own chair to the event as the Teach-In physically takes over the public spaces
outside the hotel for its events, in direct contrast to the closed-door proceedings of the Conférence. SalAMI organizers
have also issued a challenge to Conférence speakers to openly debate their policies at the Teach-In, with special
chairs set aside for Michel Camdessus and Gérald Larose.
* * *
While nothing formal has yet to be organized, it is certain that Montréal's radical and social justice activist community will be
confronting the "Free Trade At 10" meeting. At the very least, the conference will provide some choice targets for Montréal's
prolific cream pie throwers: les Entartistes (known in English as the Pieoneers).
Free Trade At 10 includes some of the major players behind both the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and NAFTA. In addition to Mulroney
and Bush, attendees include former US Secretary of State James Baker III, former Canadian trade ministers Michael Wilson
and John Crosbie, and the President of the Business Council on National Issues, Thomas d'Aquino.
Like the Conférence de Montréal, Free Trade At 10 also includes some token leftists to help legitimize the meeting. They
include Bob Rae, the former NDP Premier of Ontario and, once again, Gérald Larose. Both gatherings are careful to avoid
inviting anyone who is actually connected to serious grassroots resistance to globalization in Canada or abroad.
Free Trade At 10 sponsors include Alcan, the Royal Bank , CN, Bombardier, BCE, Nortel, and Barrick Gold (on whose
corporate board sit none other than George Bush and Brian Mulroney). The gathering will also launch an impact study entitled
"FTA @ 10/NAFTA @ 5" by the Royal Bank. The report is not expected to denounce the well-documented ill-effects of
so-called "free" trade.
While organized by an institute affiliated with McGill University -- which presumably still believes in the liberal pretenses
of open and free debate -- Free Trade At 10 will cost $350 to attend, and is carefully scripted to ensure a one-sided look at
the FTA and NAFTA. Both press releases to-date from the organizers celebrate free trade, while the conference webpage
has several PR style photos of Mulroney, Bush and Ronald Reagan.
* * *
The upcoming activities against the Conférence de Montréal, and potential actions against the Free Trade At 10 meeting, will
be part of radical Montréal's contribution to the growing international resistance to corporate-style globalization.
On June 18th, in response to a call from People's Global Action Against Free Trade (PGA), there will be worldwide
demonstrations at financial centers. At the same time, the G-8 leaders, including Jean Chrétien, will be meeting in Cologne,
Germany.
Due to organizing efforts earlier in the month, there is no specific June 18 activity yet planned in Montréal. However, many
Montréalers will be attending the "Reclaim the Streets" demonstration and parade organized by the PGA Coalition in nearby
Ottawa. Ironically, June 18 will also be the same day that the over 90 Opération SalAMI defendants receive a verdict at
Montréal's Municpal Court for criminal charges ranging from mischief to resisting arrest.
Meanwhile, later this year from November 1-2, Toronto will be hosting the next FTAA meeting of the regions' trade ministers.
Also, in late November and early December, over 130 trade ministers and heads of state will gather in Seattle for the next
round of World Trade Organization talks.
Planning against both meetings has already started as grassroots resistance to the agenda of big capital continues to grow in
Montréal and the rest of North America. Reports from the upcoming demonstrations, and analysis of the various institutions
and agreements of corporate free trade, will be forthcoming on these e-mail lists in the upcoming weeks and months.
[The author of this article is involved with both the May 31st demonstration and the June 1st Teach-In. He is also an
Opération SalAMI defendant. For more information, or to get involved in local resistance to globalization in Montréal,
contact the Comité des sans-emplois at 514-596-7094 or Opération SalAMI at 514-982-6606, ext. 2236. For info
about other Montréal activities against capitalist globalization, or organizing against the FTAA, MAI and WTO,
phone 514-526-8946 or e-mail <jaggi@tao.ca>.]
APPENDIX
Free Trade At 10 speakers (partial list)
June 4-5, Renaissance Hotel du Parc:
(* indicates a token leftist)
Brian Mulroney, former Prime Minister of Canada
George Bush, former US President
James Baker III, former US Secretary of State and Treasury Secretary
Michael Wilson, former Minister of Finance
John Crosbie, former Minister of International Trade
Clayton Yeutter, US free trade negotiator
Stanley Hartt, former Deputy Minister of Finance
Simon Reisman, Chief free trade negotiator, Canada
Derek Burney, former Canadian Ambassador to the US,
Fernando Clavijo Quiroga, Advisor to the President of Mexico (1989-94)
Laurent Beaudoin, Chairman, Bombardier Inc.
Jacques Menard, Chairman, Hydro-Québec
* Buzz Hargrove, President, Canadian Auto Workers
Michael J. Sabia, CFO, Canadian National Ltd.
William Watson, Professor of Economics, McGill
Desmond Morton, Director, McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
Donald S. Macdonald, former Minister of Finance
Charles Sirois, CEO, Teleglobe Inc.
Lynton Wilson, Chairman, BCE Inc.
Frank McKenna, Premier of New Brunswick (1986-97)
* Bob Rae, Premier of Ontario (1990-95)
* Duncan Cameron, Director, Centre for Policy Alternatives
* Gérald Larose, President, Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN)
William S. Merkin, US free trade negotiatior
Carla Hills, US Trade Representative (1989-93)
Jaime Serra Puche, former Minister of Trade, Mexico
Pierre Marc Johnson, former Premier, Québec
Bernard Landry, Minster of Finance, Québec
Jean Charest, leader, Québec Liberal Party
Thomas d'Aquino, President, Business Council on National Issues
Jorge O. Mariscal, Emerging Markers Coordinator, Goldman, Sachs & Co.
and many more ...
Conférence de Montréal speakers
May 30 - June 2, Sheraton Centre Hotel:
Michel Camdessus, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
S.E. Andrès Pastrana, President of Columbia
P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica
Cesar Gaviria, Secretary-General, Organization of American States (OAS)
Enrique Iglesias, President, Inter-American Development Bank
Richard Grasso, President and CEO, New York Stock Exchange
Alice Rivlin, Vice-Chair, US Federal Reserve Board
Raymond Chretien, Canadian Ambassador to the USA
Gordon D. Giffin, US Ambassador to Canada
Sergio Marchi, Minister of International Trade, Canada
Martin Cauchon, Minister for Economic Development in Québec, Canada
Sheila Copps, Minister of Propaganda (aka Minister of Heritage), Canada
Martin Redrado, Former Chairman of the Argentina Securities Commission
Henry Mintzberg, Professor, McGill University
* Gérald Larose, President, Confédération des syndicats nationaux
Gaetan Lussier, President, Culinar
John McCallum, Chief Economist, Royal Bank of Canada
Yvan Allaire, Executive vice president, Bombardier Inc.
Clayton Yeutter, U.S. Free Trade negotiator
Paulo Alcàntara Gomez, President College of the Americas
H.E. Hugo Fernandez Faingold, Vice-President, Eastern Republic of Uruguay
Dr. Maritza Izaguirre, Minister of Finance, Venezuela
Carlos Arturo Imendia, Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica
L. Enrique García, President & CEO, Andean Development Corporation
Bob Frisen, President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture
Jack Valenti, President, Motion Picture Association of America
Félix Pena, Under-Secretary for Foreign Trade, Argentina
[end]
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