8/21/2007: Security News Brief: The SPP Meeting in Canada:

Security issues highlighted the North American summit Monday where
President Bush and the leaders of Mexico and Canada are crafting a
plan to secure their borders in case of a terrorist strike or other
emergency.

Bush, Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper want to find a way to protect citizens in an emergency
- perhaps an outbreak of avian flu or a natural disaster - without the
tie-ups that slowed commerce after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Calderón is cutting short his trip to Canada to return home to manage
his own natural disaster: Hurricane Dean is bearing down on the
Yucatan Peninsula. Maurico Guerrero, a spokesman for the Mexican
embassy in Canada, said Calderón will attend all the events Tuesday at
the summit, but his schedule has been streamlined and he will no
longer stay another day, as planned.

The three leaders are also seeking middle ground on issues ranging
from energy to trade, food safety to immigration. Few, if any, formal
announcements are expected at the meeting at a highly secured red
cedar chateau along the banks of the Ottawa River.

The meeting is also designed to bolster a compact - dubbed the
Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America - that serves as
a way for the nations to team up on health, commerce and emergency
preparedness.

"The focus over the last year has been on developing a plan on how the
three countries can deal with the circumstances of avian influenza,"
said Dan Fisk, a National Security Council official who briefed
reporters. "But building on that, we hope to have a larger discussion
among the three countries - on a continental basis - about how are we
prepared to deal generally with an emergency."

Several hundred demonstrators protested on issues such as the war in
Iraq, human rights and integration of North America. One carried a
banner that said, "Say No To Americanada."

Calderón and Harper both want tight relations with Bush, yet don't
want to be seen as proteges of the unpopular president or leave the
impression that the U.S. is encroaching on their sovereignty.

To that end, Harper used the meeting to assert his nation's claim to
the Northwest Passage through the Arctic.

The race to secure subsurface rights to the Arctic seabed heated up
when Russia sent two small submarines to plant a tiny national flag
under the North Pole. The United States and Norway also have competing
claims in the vast Arctic region, where a U.S. study suggests as much
as 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas could be hidden.

Canada believes much of the North American side of the Arctic is
Canada's, but the United States says the thawing Northwest Passage is
part of international waters.

A senior Canadian government official said Harper raised the recent
remarks of Paul Cellucci, Bush's previous U.S. ambassador to Canada.
Cellucci argued that the U.S. should acknowledge the Northwest Passage
as Canadian so that the Canadian navy could to patrol the area,
monitor shipping and guard against potential terrorism and weapons
smuggling.

"I think, in the age of terrorism, it's in our security interests that
the Northwest Passage be considered part of Canada," Cellucci said
Sunday.

The United States did not appear to be swayed.

"The president came away with a far better understanding of Canada's
position," Fisk said. "However, I will note that from the U.S.
position, we continue to believe that the Northwest Passage is an
international waterway."

Harper also raised concerns about new passport requirements for
travelers and the war in Afghanistan.

A Canadian official said Harper told Bush what he's said publicly -
that Canada's military mission in Afghanistan will not be extended
beyond 2009 without a consensus in the country and its Parliament.
Canada has 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, fighting against the Taliban
in the violent southern parts of the nation. Other countries, such as
Germany and Italy, restrict the use of their forces to more peaceful
areas in the north.

Calderón, in his first meeting with Bush since U.S. immigration
legislation died in the Senate, has called that a "grave error." He is
also rankled by the Bush administration's newly announced crackdown on
employers who use illegal immigrants.

The United States is working on a major new aid plan to help Mexico
fight violent drug trafficking, but White House officials said it's
not likely to be announced at the summit. U.S. officials have lauded
Calderón's crackdown on drug traffickers since he took office.

But Calderón has repeatedly pushed the U.S. to take more
responsibility in fighting the two countries' common drug problem,
including doing more to stop the flow of illegal U.S. arms into Mexico
and trying to combat the demand for drugs north of the border. The
issue of U.S. aid is a sensitive subject among Mexicans wary that U.S.
help could lead to interventions that violate Mexican sovereignty.

When Bush arrived Monday in Ottawa, he was greeted by a bagpiper and a
ceremonial honor guard dressed in red jackets and tall, black fur
hats. Bush flew to the resort on the Marine One presidential
helicopter. After his meetings, Bush took a mountain bike ride with
Stockwell Day, Canadian public safety minister.

About 2,000 demonstrators descended on the town between Montreal and
Ottawa. About 300 lingered directly in front of the resort compound's
main gate

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed that tear gas was used
against several dozen protesters who threw rocks, branches and plastic
bottles.

"I've heard it's nothing," Harper said, dismissing the protests as
Bush arrived at the Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello. "A couple hundred?
It's sad."
Source: Morning Security News Brief via Security News Wire