Issue and Opponent: Operation SalAMI, a Montréal-based direct-action group, focused its efforts on targeting the Department of International Trade to release a copy of the Free Trade Area of Americas (hereinafter: FTAA). The concern of Operation SalAMI was the secrecy of the document. There were concerns that the FTAA would exacerbate the degradation of environmental regulations, and labor laws, and the subjugation of national laws.
Dilemma Action: To avoid a potential confrontation by the police or other non-pacifist protests at the Québec summit, Operation SalAMI chose to offer an ultimatum to International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa. They demanded the government publish the integral version of the FTAA by March 20, 2001, or risk a non-violent civil disobedience movement on April 2, 2001, to close the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade building in Ottawa. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade was faced with a choice: release the current version of the FTAA revealing the dubious confidentiality of the draft or have a publicized civil disobedient movement. The government did not release the draft of the FTAA by the activist’s deadline. On April 1, Operation SalAMI held a day-long teach-in to promote nonviolent protests and how to respond to different scenarios. Then, on April 2, 2001, 400-500 protesters arrived and occupied the Department of International Trade and Foreign after calling for a “Citizen’s Warrant for Search and Seizure.”
Outcome: Eighty-five people were arrested. Five days after the publicized civil disobedience movement, Pierre Pettigrew and the International Trade Minster released the full FTAA draft. Operation SalAMI, led by Philippe Duhamel, labels itself as a nonviolent organization that adheres to ethical principles and transparency. The name of the organization “Salami” translates to “dirty friend” in French and the AMI is an acronym for Multilateral Agreement of Investments. The Multilateral Agreement of Investments was a former target of the activist group. There is evidence that the larger campaign movement is resisting corporate globalization.