Judicial Watch seeks access to meetings of Security and Prosperity Partnership m

Judicial Watch seeks access to meetings of Security and Prosperity Partnership meetings in August

The public-interest group Judicial Watch has filed a notice with Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez that it wants to attend the upcoming meetings of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) in Canada. The group, which investigates and prosecutes government corruption, believes the American people have a right to know what's going on inside what it describes as a "shadowy organization."

The August 20-21 meetings will be conducted in Montebello, Quebec, Canada, by the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), which is the business arm of the SPP. According to Judicial Watch (JW) spokesman Chris Farrell, his group notified the Commerce Secretary that they are seeking access to the records of the NACC and want to attend its meetings under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) -- the federal open meetings law.

"We want to be there, attend [the meetings], take notes, see what's going on -- because essentially they've been operating in secret," Farrell charges. "They're all documents that are produced after the fact, but we're not sure that they're full, complete, or accurate; nor have we been privy to the actual meetings themselves, the give-and-take, the conversation, the negotiation that goes on in the meetings."

Farrell says the American public has a right to know what is going on during those meetings. "The meetings themselves should be open to the public," he asserts. "That's why we put Secretary Gutierrez on notice about: that it is our intention to attend and we need him to abide by the law. These folks need to operate in the sunlight and not in the shadows."

Farrell contends the SPP wants to "harmonize" rules and regulations and laws among Mexico, Canada, and the United States -- something he believes would have an adverse effect on U.S. sovereignty.

"[Under the SPP] there's one system, one standard, one regulation, one law, one political entity," the JW spokesman explains. "It's much more efficient for them, and they can make a lot more money faster -- and that's really what's driving this initiative.

"It goes back to sovereignty," he continues. "That undermines or calls into question what the United States stands for and who and what we are as a nation."

Judicial Watch has requested confirmation of their admittance -- and that of the general public -- to the meetings in Quebec by Friday, August 3. Farrell explains that his group is prepared to go to court in order to have access to those meetings.

JW's request for the NACC's records -- reports, transcripts, minutes, appendixes, working papers, drafts, studies, agenda, etc. -- seeks those records in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.