The Plan To Disappear Canada

Ten dots to connect Here are 10 developments in the plan to disappear Canada. 1) Pesticides 'harmonized.' The most thoroughly reported story (though even this did not go much beyond the CanWest chain) was the revelation that Canada was about to "harmonize" its regulations, setting limits for pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables. In 40 per cent of the cases, the U.S. allows for higher levels. Richard Aucoin, chief registrar of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, which sets Canada's pesticide levels, said that Canada's higher levels were a "trade irritant." The downgrading of health protection had been a NAFTA initiative, but is being "fast-tracked" as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Some 300 regulatory regimes are currently going through the same process. 2) Tory tirade. The next story that broke through the wall of media silence reported on the paranoid reaction of the Harper Conservatives to any criticism of the SPP. The occasion was hearings of the Commons International Trade Committee into the SPP, forced by the NDP. Gordon Laxer, head of Alberta's Parkland Institute, was testifying on the energy implications of the SPP, warning that eastern Canada could end up "freezing in the dark." He had barely started when the chair of the committee, Conservative MP Leon Benoit, demanded that Laxer halt his "irrelevant" testimony. The Committee members overruled Benoit -- who promptly (and illegally) adjourned the meeting and stomped out. The NDP and Liberal members nonetheless continued without him. 3) Council of corporate power. The SPP initiative began in earnest back in 2002 with the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (formerly the BCNI), the most powerful corporate body in the country. It continues it leadership role, but does not promote the scheme just in its own name. It instead has helped create several supportive bodies that now help drive the agenda. Included in these are the <http://tinyurl.com/yw2yox>North American Competitive Council (NACC), which includes CEOs of the largest North American corporations, and which institutionalizes the exclusively corporate nature of the agreement. The NACC is the only advisory group to the three NAFTA/SPP governments. 4) Secretive summit. The NACC at least is public. But much of what happens in building the elite consensus for deep integration is done in absolute secrecy or very privately, away from the prying eyes of the media. The most secretive of these was held last year from Sept. 12 to 14, in Banff Springs. As The Tyee reported, the gathering was sponsored by something called the North American Forum (http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/06/08/ DeepIntegrate/#correction1)* and it was attended by some of the most powerful members of the North American ruling elite. Attendees, according to a leaked list that could not be confirmed, included Donald Rumsfeld, George Schultz (former U.S. Secretary of State), General Rick Hillier, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day. The media was not informed of the meeting and it was first revealed by the weekly Banff Crag & Canyon. Stockwell Day refused to even confirm he was there, but said that even if he was, it was a "private" meeting that he would not comment on. There is no better indication that these meetings, and the SPP itself, constitute a parallel governing structure -- unaccountable to any democratic institution or the public. 5) 'No fly' coordination. Canada will have its own "no-fly" list just like our U.S. "partner." As the Council of Canadians pointed out: "The no-fly list is very much a Security and Prosperity Partnership initiative. 'The SPP Report to Leaders, August 2006' outlines <http://tinyurl.com/28ufzp>105 SPP initiatives. Initiative #93 states, 'Develop, test, evaluate and implement a plan to establish comparable aviation passenger screening, and the screening of baggage and air cargo (for North America).'" Canada's privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has raised a number of concerns about the plan including the fact that the list will be shared with the U.S., that "false positives" are a virtual certainty, and that there is no evidence put forward by the government that the list will improve airline security. 6) Bye, bye Canadian dollar? David Dodge, the head of the Bank of Canada, told a Chicago audience that a single currency for North America "is possible." That would see a big chunk of Canadian sovereignty and the ability to guide the economy through monetary policy go out the window. It's not the first time Dodge has mused about abandoning the Canadian dollar - or <http://tinyurl.com/2u8vde>deep integration. More: http://www.rense.com/general77/plan.htm [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on June 20, 2007]

Note: http://www.spp.gov/>... http://tinyurl.com/yw2y... http://thetyee.ca/Views... http://tinyurl.com/28uf... http://tinyurl.com/2u8v... http://www.rense.com/ge...