Navigating NAFTA

2.) TOWN HALL MEETING 25 MIN

I’d like for you to close your eyes and think about the list of people we put on the board. I’m going to ask you to imagine that you are one of those people. You can choose any role from the list, or if you think of something different that wasn’t on the list, that’s okay, too. Think about what your character might think about the prospect of NAFTA being signed into law. How does that law affect your character’s daily life or their business? Think of a name for a character; this can be your name, if you want it to be, or you can choose another name.

Imagine that your character is going to attend a meeting in San Antonio to decide whether or not NAFTA is going to be signed by the countries involved. All citizens from all three countries, regardless of their jobs are invited to this meeting. Your character might carry themselves in a certain way - do they have a specific posture, a way that they move? Do they have a voice that they might use? You don’t have to to use a voice or a way to move your body that’s not your own, but you’re welcome to if you’d like to. I’m going to step into role, too, as the [insert role that would make sense at this meeting], and you’ll know that I’m in role whenever you see me put on a blazer. Go ahead and open your eyes.

Facilitator (in role): Hi. Oh look, everyone is assembled. I’m so glad to see so many people here tonight to talk about the signing of what will hopefully become the NAFTA agreement. Oh, goodness, I should introduce myself. I’m the assistant to President Bush’s Secretary of Commerce. He wasn’t able to be here tonight because of an emergency back at the office, so he sent me here in his place.

So, I know we’re all excited to get this NAFTA agreement moving forward, but we need to take a vote. Before we do that, though, the secretary asked me to make sure no one had any questions about NAFTA. Does anyone have any questions? Oh, before you ask, though, when I call on you, could you tell me your name, the country you’re from, and your job in your community?

Ideally, students will have questions about the pros/cons involved his/her country becoming part of NAFTA.

Possible Side-Coaching: During the conversation, the following information can be introduced if it is helpful.

• The main highway for shipping goods to and from Mexico and Canada is I-35 which runs directly North/South, right through Austin, TX.

• Trade between Canada/the US/Mexico is much higher now than before NAFTA.

• The U.S. imports the most goods from Canada and Mexico.

• The minimum wage is much lower in Mexico than in the U.S., so some companies have moved their businesses to Mexico to ship their products back to the U.S.

• Mexico’s environmental regulations are less strict than the United States’.

• A higher demand for lots of goods and agricultural products took away business from Mexico’s small farmers.

Transition: Well, it seems like we have quite a few opinions about NAFTA in this meeting. The vote, though, was supposed to take place tonight by midnight, and it’s getting pretty late already. I would like to take a vote and get that answer back to [insert official here]. I will ask that each person make a decision of yes or no to approve the NAFTA agreement. Each person makes their decision and votes.

Facilitator will stop the drama and step out of role, asking students to do the same.