- While the media were busy obsessing over rumours of a
budding romance between Condoleezza Rice and Peter MacKay last week, a
more significant relationship was developing behind closed doors.
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- Away from the spotlight, from Sept. 12 to 14, in Banff
Springs, Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day and Defence Minister Gordon
O'Connor met with U.S. and Mexican government officials and business leaders
to discuss North American integration at the second North American Forum.
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- According to leaked documents, the guest list included
such prominent figures as U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Mexican
Secretary of Public Security Eduardo Medina Mora and Canadian Forces chief
General Rick Hillier, although we have no final confirmation of attendees.
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- The event was chaired by former U.S. secretary of state
George Schultz, former Alberta premier, Peter Lougheed and former Mexican
finance minister Pedro Aspe.
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- Despite the involvement of senior North American politicians,
organizers did not alert the media about the event. To make it worse, our
government will not be issuing a public statement and refuses to release
any information about the content of the discussions or the actors involved.
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- Day's office has been telling journalists that it cannot
comment on the minister's private meeting and that journalists should understand
this. So much for accountability.
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- The event was organized by the Canadian Council of Chief
Executives - the elite club of Canada's richest CEOs - and the Canada West
Foundation, an Alberta think-tank that promotes, among other things, closer
economic integration with the United States.
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- The focus of the event was on North American security
and prosperity. Not surprisingly, this included topics such as "A
North American Energy Strategy," "Demographic and Social Dimensions
of North American Integration" and "Opportunities for Security
Co-operation" - all topics where the public interest is at odds with
that of big business elites.
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- Unfortunately meetings like this are now commonplace.
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- Since Paul Martin, Vicente Fox and George W. Bush signed
the Security and Prosperity Partnership in March 2005, discussions on continental
integration have gone underground.
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- The media have paid little attention to this far-reaching
agreement, so Canadians are unaware that a dozen working groups are currently
"harmonizing" Canadian and U.S. regulations on everything from
food to drugs to the environment and even more contentious issues like
foreign policy.
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- Make no mistake, this process of harmonization is not
about improving food, environmental and other norms; it is about priming
North America for better business by weakening the impacts of such perceived
obstacles as environmental standards and labour rights.
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- This is why the public has been kept in the dark while
the business elite has played a leading role in designing the blueprint
for this more integrated North America. In fact, they have been the driving
force.
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- In June this year, their power was formalized when our
governments created the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC),
an advisory committee comprised of representatives from the largest corporations
in North America including Wal-Mart, Chevron, General Motors, Lockheed
Martin, Suncor and others.
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- Their goal is to make North America more competitive
globally, which means weakening our government's ability to regulate industry,
protect the environment or our social safety net.
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- Lockheed Martin's Ron Covais's statement to Maclean's
magazine earlier this month about the role of the NACC was quite revealing:
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- "The guidance from the ministers was, tell us what
we need to do and we'll make it happen."
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- Sadly, we the public are not informed of what big businesses
are telling our ministers to do.
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- The NACC met in Washington on Aug. 15 to discuss its
priorities, but we have very little information about what was said as
it was not reported anywhere in the press.
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- For Canadians, developments on energy will be crucial.
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- The U.S. administration, anxious to keep up with its
country's high energy demands, has shown great interest in this "secure"
energy source located just north of its border. With corporations like
Suncor involved, energy was an important item of discussion at the Banff
meeting last week.
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- Given the detrimental impacts of oil sand extraction
on our environment and given that Canada currently exports 66 per cent
of its oil (primarily to the U.S.) while importing 55 per cent of what
we use domestically from countries like Algeria, Venezuela and Norway,
it is alarming that Ottawa would discuss a "North American Energy
Strategy" with the U.S. and Mexico before establishing a Canadian
strategy that would ensure our ability to protect the environment and ensure
a secure energy supply for Canadians.
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- Though not as glamourous as the date between Peter and
Condi, the media should pay better attention to this marriage between our
governments and big corporations.
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- The Conservatives came to power on the promise to make
government more accountable. They need to be reminded that our government
should be accountable to the people of Canada - not just its business elite.
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- Maude Barlow is chairperson of the Council of Canadians
and author of 15 books including Too Close for Comfort: Canada's Future
within Fortress North America.
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