US Army nixes Canadian meeting on Canadian soil

In a stunning bit of irony, a meeting to be hosted by the Council of Canadians at a community centre in Papineauville, Quebec, protesting "deep integration" and the continuing loss of Canadian sovereignty, has been shut down by the US Army--without, at least to this point, a shot being fired.

The RCMP and the Sûreté du Québec have joined with the US military to prevent a threatened outbreak of free speech [and assembly --ed.] that, according to the organizers, "would have included writers, academics and parliamentarians."

The event, a conference on the so-called "Security and Prosperity Partnership," was to take place on August 19, a day before leaders from Mexico, the US and Canada meet in closed session in Montebello, six kilometres away, to plan further economic and regulatory integration of the North American continent. Papineauville's town manager informed the organizers, however, that the Quebec police had warned him that "[The Council of Canadians] is an activist organization opposed to the summit and that it would not be wise to have us set up in the community centre."

The spin now being placed on this move is that there was never any plan to shut down the activists--the armed forces simply needed their meeting location. The US Army and the police will be using the community centre as a security base of operations. Just one of those unfortunate coincidences.

Meanwhile there is persistent talk of a 25 kilometre security perimeter around Montebello, likely with automatic weapons, air patrols and all mod cons. Our complaisant media managed to track down Barry Cooper, a member of the so-called "Calgary School" of right-wing academics, to get a supportive comment. They have been silent so far on the squelching of the conference, but will no doubt soon offer their editorial assistance to the people with the guns. The War Against Terror continues.