NCAST is a grassroots organization which was created after OPIRG Brock and the Niagara Chapter of the Council of Canadians organized a public meeting downtown St. Catharines to educate people about TILMA (Trade Investment Labour Mobility Agreement) and the SPP (Security Prosperity Parntership. The SPP is a White House led initiative is a tri-national trade agreement between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. had been set into motion in 2005 without any public or legislative scrutiny in any of the three countries.

The group is working hard to focus local awareness on the SPP and TILMA which we maintain threaten Canadian sovereignty and local autonomy. We successfully organized a rally in Montebello Park against the SPP held on August 16th which was successful in both education and mobilization for a larger protest to be held in Ottawa and Quebec on August 20th and 21st against the 3rd summit of the SPP.

The Trade, Investment, Labour, and Mobility Agreement. This is an inter-provincial trade agreement between B.C. and Alberta, which came into effect while the teach-in was being held on April 1, 2007. This agreement was also signed the year before without any public or legislative debate. This agreement is viewed as Canada’s first corporate bill of rights and it is on the agenda for Ontario. This agreement is seen as a provincial facilitator for the larger, national SPP trade agreement.

The coalition has begun to present information and a resolution concerning TILMA to municipalities in the Niagara Region. To date N-CAST has successfully presented the resolution and had it passed by the St. Catharines, Pelham, Thorld, Port Colborne and Niagara Falls city councils.

NCAST is always looking for more people to help out and if you are interested in joining the group or attending any meetings please email us here at OPIRG and we can get you in touch.

Related Article:
-Citizen group urges council to say 'No' to trade agreement 9-28-2007

--BC municipalities reject TILMA 9-26-2007

The above link takes you to the first part of what will be a full-length DVDon the topic of the Security and Prosperity Partnership and the Trade,Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement, two so-called "free trade"agreements that are being negotiated in secret, and without consultation,between the executive branch of government and large corporations.