What do secrecy, police provocateurs, an assault on democracy and infringements on citizens’ rights have in common? The Security Prosperity Partnership. You, Me & the S.P.P is a feature length documentary which exposes the latest manifestation of a corporatist agenda that is undermining the democratic authority of the citizens of North America. Two processes, the Security Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and the Trade Investment Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) are rapidly eroding and eliminating standards, civil liberties, regulatory systems and institutions put in place over generations through the democratic process. Proponents of the SPP say that it is needed to keep trade flowing. Opponents say, not only will it undermine the democratic authority of citizens, it threatens the sovereignty of the three NAFTA nations through the integration of military, security structures and regulatory regimes.

Director Paul Manly & the Parkland Institute’s Gordon Laxer will be in attendance for a post-film discussion/Q&A.

Recent reports state that the SPP is “officially dead”. However, there is still cause for concern, as energy policy is still subject to “deep integration”, and a newer version called the PPA – Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas – is now being developed. Called a “neoliberal fantasy about revising the FTAA, the Free Trade Area of the Americas” by Murray Dobbin, one Canada’s most popular progressive political commentators and analysts, he goes on to say that “the demise of the SPP should provide Canada with an opportunity to have a serious debate about our economic future.” (see http://murraydobbin.ca

"…take your mask off brother…. No, no, no, put the rock down man, put the rock down, this is our line!" - Dave Coles, President of the Communications Energy and Paperworkers union, at the 2008 SPP Summit in Montebello, Québec, just before the masked 'protestors' were revealed to be police agent provocateurs.

You, Me & the SPP: Trading Democracy for Corporate Rule is also the 2009 NoN Expo’s contribution to the Oct. 24 International Day of Climate Action, coordinated by http://www.350.org The post-film discussion will address the "deep integration" of Canada/U.S. energy policy, and how Canada's "dirty oil" - the Alberta Tar Sands - is undermining efforts to meet our international obligations to climate change solutions. Director Paul Manly will be in attendance.

“Tar Sands production is destroying the environment at an alarming rate. It ruins vast tracks of land, clears forests and sucks up a quarter of Alberta’s ground water. Tar Sands production is also making people sick as studies show higher rates of cancer in nearby towns. Alberta is about to become one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters thanks to Tar Sands oil. A fivefold increase in production, as called for by an SPP Tar Sands working group, would have a catastrophic impact on the environment and make it impossible for Canada to ever reach its Kyoto targets.” - from the Council of Canadians' "Integrate This!" report (http://canadians.org/integratethis/index.html )

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• North of Nowhere Expo 2009

  • Radical Jesters w/ Honk! (2009)
  • American Radical (2009)
  • Freedom of Expression: Resistance & Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property (2007)
  • You, Me & the SPP: Trading Democracy for Corporate Rule (2009)
  • The Color of Olives (2006)
  • Telling Strings (2007)
  • Beyond Blue & Gray: Portraits of Palestinian Creativity Under Occupation (2008)
  • Art & Apathy: Israeli Conscience & Culture (2008)
  • Palestine Blues (2008)