Integrate This

The implications are pretty far-reaching. The US would have to institute a Canadian-style healthcare plan, as evidenced by General Motors’ recent announcement that lay-offs due to rising costs are related to the price of buying health insurance. Obviously if the US system is costing them that much extra, there is a need to harmonize with the cheaper, more efficient Canadian system. I suggest that they have Roy Romanow to write up a plan for them.

Kyoto and other environmental issues are another area where the US would have to join its trading partners. President Bush’s anti-science stance is not only bad for the environment, but gives the US an unfair advantage over Canada and Mexico because US corporations can spew out greenhouse gases with impunity. Kyoto doesn’t directly address non-greenhouse pollution though. In order to level the playing field for the citizens of all three countries, none of who should be relegated to an existence in a slowly warming toxic soup, all environmental regulation should adopt the highest standards in all areas of environmental regulation.

The mish-mash of federal, state, and provincial laws governing everything from water purity to insecticide usage would have to be gone through and harmonized to the toughest existing standards. It would be a little trying at first, but it would ensure that the “race to the top” that Mr. Emerson was referring to would become a reality.

Labour laws would have to be integrated as well. Those fifteen year old girls that put together automotive wiring harnesses in the maquiladoras in Mexico for slave wages would have to make the same wage as the best-paid minimum wage workers in this new, deeply integrated, free trade zone. There is more to labour laws than wages though. Maquiladora workers would also be entitled to eight hour days, paid overtime, three weeks paid vacation each year, and regular breaks for coffee and mealtimes. General Motors and other corporations will have no trouble absorbing the increased costs because of all the money they will be saving on health insurance for their American workers.

The deep integration people also like to stress that security and trade are two sides of the same coin. I couldn’t agree more. Since the United States insists on endangering our security by starting a new arms race with its BMD (Ballistic Missile Debacle) plan, it will simply have to cancel the program. Any incoming missiles will fly over Canada, after all. What goes up must come down, and the possibility of it coming down on my head makes me feel less than secure.

Similarly, invading sovereign states to gain control of their natural resources, providing military aid to despots, and sending CIA “advisors” into developing countries to help manage private armies are all detrimental to the continuing security of Canadian aid workers, as well as encouraging terrorist acts against us. The United States must stop these practices immediately in the name of stronger economic ties.

Another aspect of security is gun control. As many from the pro-gun lobby in Canada have pointed out, few criminals here commit crimes with guns that are registered. The problem, they insist, is with guns brought into Canada illegally. Since most of the illegal weapons in Canada are brought in from the United States, the US will simply have to harmonise it’s gun laws with the Canadian model. This is also especially important in ensuring the security of American people since their gun crime is so much more prevalent.

Security is a far ranging topic. Anne McLellan began stressing that when she and then Prime Minister Jean Chretien pushed through the anti-terrorist bill a few years ago. At that time McLellan said, “There will always be a terrorist threat.” McLellan seems to like that tune, because she’s still singing it. The latest verse goes, “Some specific initiatives include testing biometric technology in screening travellers, developing benchmarks on visa issues and developing a co-ordinated strategy on threats to our food supply and agricultural sectors.”

Biometric technology, Anne? She mentioned it in the same sentence as threats to our food supply too. Why not an embedded chip and supplementary ear tag like we do with cattle? We could try it out on politicians first. That would allow us to keep track of when they are being bought and sold. If that worked out, we could extend the program to include corporate lobbyists and executives. I know that having a way to keep track of these people would make me feel more secure.

Ear tags for the ruling elite aside though, agriculture is a very serious part of integration. The cattle herds of the US and Canada have been fully integrated for decades, yet a single sick cow slammed the border shut. Obviously we need to harmonise our agricultural practices to the highest possible standard.

In the case of cattle, that would require testing every animal for BSE and banning hormone and antibiotic usage. The US subsidy regime would have to go. It is harming small farmers in Canada, Mexico and the US, and has far-reaching environmental effects. We would also have to expand the Wheat Board to include farmers in all three countries, since it has the best long-term record for getting farmers a reasonable price for their grain. Factory farming would have to go. No more hog barns polluting well water, no more chickens that never walked in the dirt. That is the only way to be fair to small-scale Mexican farmers.

Somehow I don’t think that David Emerson and Anne McLellan brought these things up at the recent NAFTA plus meetings. I doubt that either Paul Martin or Vincente Fox thought to mention these measures when they were in Waco playing cowboy with their good friend George Bush.

Even Thomas d’Aquino, that ever-present advisor to Canadian politicians and champion of the deepest integration possible, once said, “Whether at the World Trade Organization, or at the OECD, or at the United Nations, an irrefutable case can be made that a universal acceptance of the rule of law, the outlawing of corrupt practices, respect for workers' rights, high health and safety standards, sensitivity to the environment, support for education and the protection and nurturing of children are not only justifiable against the criteria of morality and justice. The simple truth is that these are good for business and most business people recognize this.” Surely that would also apply to North America. Mr. D’Aquino wouldn’t say something he didn’t mean, would he? Nah, he wouldn’t do that.