The “Three Amigos” summit in New Orleans between Stephen Harper, George Bush, and Mexican president Felipe Calderon got a cold response from a small group of Edmonton protesters this weekend, and their downright chilly attitude has nothing to do with the surprise blast of winter the city endured.

Michael Grochowalski, a member of the Council of Canadians and the organizer of the Edmonton protest against the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), says the negotiations over food and environmental regulation put Canadian’s health at risk and are blatantly undemocratic.

“Security and Prosperity Partnership—that sounds like a wonderful thing,” says Grochowalski, “but then you start looking into it, there’s secret meetings, and Parliament isn’t talking about it.”

Launched in March 2005, SPP is an expansion of NAFTA and is being developed in exclusive consultation with leading CEOs with the goal of “harmonizing” regulations between the three countries. It’s pitched as a necessary step to create jobs, encourage investment, and ensure that North America remains competitive with the European Union in a global economy. 

Many calls for an open discussion of the agreement and a public debate in Parliament have gone unanswered.

At last year’s summit in Montebello, Quebec, Harper characterized the meetings as negotiations over jellybean regulations, and not a threat to Canadian sovereignty.

But if that’s the case, says Grochowalski, then why not have a public debate? “I think the government has realized that they can’t have agreements like this talked about nationwide,” he says, “because people will realize that it is a raw deal.”