VANGUARD OF FREEDOM

"North American Union" Advisory Group Can be Sued

Judicial Watch has standing to bring a lawsuit against the Commerce Department with regard to the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), a group that advises SPP, says the D.C. Court of Appeals.

The SPP is the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America a group that critics maintain will sacrifice U.S. sovereignty by establishing a "North American Union" with open borders and a common currency.

The group was founded on March 23, 2005 by U.S., Mexico, and Canada heads of state, George Bush, Vicente Fox, and Paul Martin with the expressed goal of creating a "safer, more prosperous North America."

Judicial Watch, however, a conservative, educational foundation that seeks accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law, took issue with the SPP when citizen complaints sought recourse against what many thought was a three government hidden agenda to "combine" the economies and the societies of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico by collapsing the borders and creating a common currency.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton stated today, "Now we'll finally get our day in court and this is the essence of the argument we will make: The NACC must make its meetings open to the public and must release records relating to those meetings because it is subject to an open meetings law known as the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)."

Previously a lower court had ruled that Judicial Watch lacked standing to bring the litigation because it's "injuries" were not redressable by the court. The appellate court rejected this argument stating:

"...To satisfy the constitutional standing requirement, familiar doctrine requires a plaintiff to allege an injury in fact that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct and that will likely be redressed by a favorable decision on the merits. Here the injury requirement is obviously met. In the context of a FACA claim, an agency's refusal to disclose information that the act requires be revealed constitutes a sufficient injury...As Judicial Watch has standing to pursue its FACA claim, and the merits remain an open question, the judgment of the district court is reversed and the case is Remanded..."

According to Fitton, proponents of the SPP suggest that the goal of the whole effort is to foster better coordination between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, but some believe the SPP may sacrifice U.S. sovereignty, which would obviously be a very serious problem. (The SPP is supported by some as a first step to a "North American Union.")

Fitton said, "From the documents we've already uncovered, we do know that conversations are ongoing between the three participating nations at the highest levels of government regarding policies that impact all Americans, from healthcare to immigration. And until Judicial Watch got involved, these conversations were being conducted behind closed doors. (Despite government stonewalling, Judicial Watch has already managed to force thousands of documents into the public domain.)"

So what is the relationship of the NACC to the SPP? The American component of the NACC is made up of key corporations and was set up by the government to advise the SPP through the U.S. Chamber of Congress. So far, the NACC has provided over 50 recommendations for action to the SPP. Judicial Watch wishes to gain membership to the group and gain access to documents about its meetings and activities. The NACC most recently provided recommendations to the North American Leaders Summit (which is now what the SPP is called by the Obama administration). The last North American Leaders Summit was just this past August – so the process continues.

"Of course, we are very much looking forward to making our case in court. But President Obama could help things along if he would merely keep his own promise to provide "unprecedented" levels of transparency to the inner-workings of government, including the SPP," said Fitton.