Make North America safer:
- * Establish a common security perimeter by 2010.
- * Develop a North American Border Pass with biometric identifiers.
- * Develop a unified border action plan and expand border customs facilities.
Create a single economic space:
- * Adopt a common external tariff.
- * Allow for the seamless movement of goods within North America.
- * Move to full labor mobility between Canada and the U.S.
- * Develop a North American energy strategy that gives greater emphasis to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases - a regional alternative to Kyoto.
- * Review those sectors of NAFTA that were excluded.
- * Develop and implement a North American regulatory plan that would include "open skies and open roads" and a unified approach for protecting consumers on food, health, and the environment.
- * Expand temporary worker programs and create a "North American preference" for immigration for citizens of North America.
Spread benefits more evenly:
- * Establish a North American Investment Fund to build infrastructure to connect Mexico's poorer regions in the south to the market to the north.
- * Restructure and reform Mexico's public finances.
- * Fully develop Mexican energy resources to make greater use of international technology and capital.
Institutionalize the partnership:
- * Establish a permanent tribunal for trade and investment disputes.
- * Convene an annual North American summit meeting.
- * Establish a Tri-national Competition Commission to develop a common approach to trade remedies.
- * Expand scholarships to study in the three countries and develop a network of Centers for North American Studies.
Co-chair William F. Weld, former Governor of Massachusetts and U.S. Assistant Attorney General, said, "We are three liberal democracies; we are adjacent; we are already intertwined economically; we have a great deal in common historically; culturally, we have a lot to learn from one another."
Organized in association with the Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the Task Force includes prominent former officials, businessmen, and academic experts from all three countries. A Chairmen's Statement was released in March in advance of the trinational summit; the full report represents the consensus of the entire Task Force membership and leadership.
Chief Executive of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives Thomas d'Aquino, President of the Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales Andrés Rozental, and Director of the Center for North American Studies at American University Robert A. Pastor serve as vice chairs. Chappell H. Lawson, Associate Professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is director.
Building a North American Community: Report of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America is available on the Council website.
Founded in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, national membership organization and a nonpartisan center for scholars dedicated to producing and disseminating ideas so that individual and corporate members, as well as policymakers, journalists, students, and interested citizens in the United States and other countries, can better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other governments.
The Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI) is the only multi-disciplinary organization committed to fostering sophisticated, broadly inclusive political discourse and analysis on the nature of Mexico's participation in the international arena and the relative influence of Mexico's increasingly global orientation on domestic priorities. The Council is an independent, non-profit, pluralistic forum, with no government or institutional ties that is financed exclusively by membership dues and corporate support. The main objectives of COMEXI are to provide information and analysis of interest to our associates, as well as to create a solid institutional framework for the exchange of ideas concerning pressing world issues that affect our country.
Founded in 1976, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives is Canada's premier business association, with an outstanding record of achievement in matching entrepreneurial initiative with sound public policy choices. A not-for-profit, non-partisan organization composed of the chief executives of 150 leading Canadian enterprises, the CCCE was the Canadian private sector leader in the development and promotion of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement during the 1980s and of the subsequent trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement.
Members of the Independent Task Force on North America
Minister Pedro Aspe
(Mexican co-chair)
Protego
Mr. Thomas S. Axworthy
Queen's University
Ms. Heidi S. Cruz
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Mr. Nelson W. Cunningham
Kissinger McLarty Associates
Mr. Thomas P. d'Aquino
(Canadian co-vice chair)
Canadian Council of Chief Executives
Mr. Alfonso de Angoitia
Grupo Televisa, S.A.
Dr. Luis de La Calle Pardo
De la Calle, Madrazo, Mancera, S.C.
Professor Wendy K. Dobson
University of Toronto
Dr. Robert A. Pastor (U.S. co-vice chair)
American University
Mr. Andrés Rozental
(Mexican co-vice chair)
Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales
Dr. Richard A. Falkenrath
The Brookings Institution
Dr. Rafael Fernandez de Castro
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
Mr. Ramón Alberto Garza
Montemedia
The Honorable Gordon D. Giffin
McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
Mr. Allan Gotlieb
Donner Canadian Foundation
Mr. Michael Hart
Norman Paterson School of International Affairs
Mr. Carlos Heredia
Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales
The Honorable Carla A. Hills
Hills & Company
Dr. Gary C. Hufbauer
Institute for International Economics
Dr. Luis Rubio
CIDAC
Dr. Jeffrey J. Schott
Institute for International Economics
Mr. Pierre Marc Johnson
Heenan Blaikie
The Honorable James R. Jones
Manatt Jones Global Strategies
Dr. Chappell H. Lawson (Task Force Director)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Honourable John P. Manley (Canadian co-chair)
McCarthy Tetrault
Mr. David McD. Mann
Cox Hanson O'Reilly Matheson
Ms. Doris M. Meissner
Migration Policy Institute
The Honorable Thomas M.T. Niles
Institute for International Economics
The Honorable William F. Weld (U.S. co-chair)
Leeds Weld & Co.
Mr. Raul H. Yzaguirre
Arizona State University
Original press release with hyperlinks: Task Force Urges Measures to Strengthen North American Competitiveness, Expand Trade, Ensure Border Security
From All American Patriots News:
May 17, 2005--North America is vulnerable on several fronts: the region faces terrorist and criminal security threats, increased economic competition from abroad, and uneven economic development at home. In response to these challenges, a trinational, Independent Task Force on the Future of North America has developed a roadmap to promote North American security and advance the well-being of citizens of all three countries.
When the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States met in Texas recently they underscored the deep ties and shared principles of the three countries. The Council-sponsored Task Force applauds the announced "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America," but proposes a more ambitious vision of a new community by 2010 and specific recommendations on how to achieve it.
Pointing to increased competition from the European Union and rising economic powers such as India and China in the eleven years since NAFTA took effect, co-chair Pedro C. Aspe, former Finance Minister of Mexico, said, "We need a vision for North America to address the new challenges." The Task Force establishes a blueprint for a powerhouse North American trading area that allows for the seamless movement of goods, increased labor mobility, and energy security.
"We are asking the leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada to be bold and adopt a vision of the future that is bigger than, and beyond, the immediate problems of the present," said co-chair John P. Manley, former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. "They could be the architects of a new community of North America, not mere custodians of the status quo."
From Newsday:
NEW YORK -- The coming years should see greater economic and law enforcement cooperation among the United States and its neighbors to the north and south, according to a report presented Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The council's Independent Task Force on the Future of North America, which includes former government leaders from Canada, the United States and Mexico, is recommending the establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community with a common external tariff and a common security perimeter.
More: Task force urges greater cooperation among North American nations
From Voice of America:
The privately-funded Council on Foreign Relations task force says the future of North America would be stronger, safer and more competitive if the three nations were to institutionalize their partnerships. But the task force says it is not setting out to create a North American version of the European Union. "There is no interest in North America to replicate the European experience. We don't want to create large, supranational institutions that are as intrusive as that of Europe. On the other hand, we did feel that some lean institutions are essential," said Robert Pastor, the director for North American Studies at American University in Washington, who served as the task force's vice-chairman.
Chief among those proposed institutions is an annual North American Summit, similar to the meeting held by the three governments in Texas last March. The task force also calls for a North American Council, advocating the region's best interests. "Hopefully the three leaders would turn to this North American council and say 'Look, we're getting wonderful advice on what our governments should do but we're not getting very good advice on what we should do about North America as a whole. Why don't you prepare a plan for us on education on agriculture, on the environment, that we could consider that even as we consider the advice of our governments,'" Mr. Pastor said.
On the trade front, the task force is urging the governments to create a commission to develop a common approach to trade remedies, and a tribunal to settle trade and investment disputes.
More: Panel Urges Greater North American Integration
From the Boston Globe:
NEW YORK -- The United States, Canada, and Mexico should establish a common security perimeter to guard against terrorism in North America, a trinational independent task force said in a report released yesterday.
The countries should police their borders together to help trade, allow easier movement of citizens, and keep out potential security threats, the task force said at New York's Council on Foreign Relations.
More: Common security border urged
From Reuters:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States, Canada and Mexico should establish a common security perimeter to guard against terrorism in North America, a tri-national independent task force said in a report released on Tuesday.
The countries should police their borders together to help border trade, allow easier movement of citizens and to keep out potential security threats, the task force said at New York's Council on Foreign Relations.
"If our two borders, the one between Canada and the United States and the U.S. and Mexico, became a frontline for security the impact that would have on normal relations and economic relations would be profound," said co-chairman John Manley, a former Canadian deputy prime minister and minister of finance.
More: Experts call for common North America border
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on May 19, 2005]
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Task Force Urges Measur...
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From the article:
Create a single economic space:
.
.
. * Review those sectors of NAFTA that were excluded.
Oh yea, that scares me. Water, anyone?
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"If you must kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite about it." Winston Churchill
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Every time you complain about the moderators, god kills a kitten.
Dear Mr. Martin and our elected officials
With all due respect, and I know you are really trying to hold the government together, but the most critical issue facing Canadians today is not the Belinda Stronach issue. It isn't the sponsorship scandal, or the crumbling Conservative party. The real threat to Canadians is the recommendations of the 'Independant' Tri-lateral Task Force for deep integration. You must cease this agenda, before it is too late. You have an obligation to tell Canadians what you have planned for our future. These recommendations will kill this country, it will enslave its people, and turn us all into prisoners working for the corporate agenda. I realize that the corporate agenda is what is driving the government today, but somewhere deep down, you must have a conscience, a place where you remember the beauty and promise of freedom and joy. Perhaps when you were a small child, before the greed of politics overtook your abitions. Please go to that small child place, and renew your passion for Canada, a free, sovereign nation and tell the people the truth of what these people have in store for us, before it is too late.
I don't believe that you really want the people of this country enslaved by corporate dominance, nor do you want our youth to be shedding their blood all over the world in the name of some war on terror, that really didn't exist until the U.S. made their choice to wage war. Somewhere deep down you must know this is wrong, as the age of reason is about 7 years old, and I believe you have all passed that stage. Please do the right thing and return Canada to the people, seek peace, seek homes for the homeless and feed our people. You can do it, you just have to stop playing the power games and get back to the business of governing. That is what we hired you to do.
Thank you. I know you'll do the right thing.
Catherine Whelan Costen
cc: vivelecanada
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If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?
There is no such thing as "deep integration".
What you have done here is take a term, “deep integration” and divorce it from any context that it may have been used. It is now being used as a catchall phrase to describe ANY cooperation with the USA. What this does is enables you do short circuit any reasoned debate on any given issue and condemn it as an attack on your sovereignty. you are using it to demagogue any issue that comes along to make yourself look like the preserver of Canadian sovereignty from the evil Americans.
It is inherently fascistic to take advantage of popular prejudices and false claims in order to gain power. If Canadians are in danger of losing their sovereignty it will be from something like this, not from the Americans.
The term "deep integration" is an example of "branding" in order to sell a "product". Take a good look at what you are being sold folks.
>>>These recommendations will kill this country, it will enslave its people, and turn us all into prisoners working for the corporate agenda. I realize that the corporate agenda is what is driving the government today, but somewhere deep down, you must have a conscience, a place where you remember the beauty and promise of freedom and joy. Perhaps when you were a small child, before the greed of politics overtook your abitions. Please go to that small child place, and renew your passion for Canada, a free, sovereign nation and tell the people the truth of what these people have in store for us, before it is too late.<<<
BWWWAAAAAAHA HA HA HA HA hhhha
Hey wailing coststhem; Please leave that "small child place" and go on over to your “big adult place” before you write any more letters.
>>in the name of some war on terror, that really didn't exist until the U.S. made their choice to wage war.<<<
Its just too bad we didnt roll over and find our "small child place" when they flew airplanes full of human beings into buildings full of human beings and killed 3000 of our people...
How can a supposed "adult" be so naïve?
<br />
Here's a little reading on 'deep integration' from our FAQ.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.vivelecanada.ca/multifaq/index.php?topic=12&qt_id=79&getlevel=017">http://www.vivelecanada.ca/multifaq/index.php?topic=12&qt_id=79&getlevel=017</a><br />
<a href="http://www.vivelecanada.ca/multifaq/index.php?topic=12&qt_id=81&getlevel=017">http://www.vivelecanada.ca/multifaq/index.php?topic=12&qt_id=81&getlevel=017</a><br />
<p>---<br>"If you must kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite about it." Winston Churchill<br />
And nice link to a static web page with no room for rebuttal, I have already picked those arguments apart elsewhere. They are papers from Canadian think tanks re. trade issues, most not just with the USA but world wide. When you actually sit down and read them you realize that they are Canadian ideas from Canadian think tanks that carry no political weight, not a nefarious American plan to subjugate you and steal your sovereignty.
What you count on is that fact that those papers are dull and nuanced, so most posters wont actually read them. Just rally around the “deep integration” myth.
Some of these ideas make perfect sense but regardless, what you are railing against is the notion of any cooperation with the USA. Some of you have rail against the notion of “trade” with the USA.
I repeat: It is inherently fascistic to take advantage of popular prejudices and false claims in order to gain power. If Canadians are in danger of losing their sovereignty it will be from something like this. Your freedom will go internally rather then externally and the people who have set themselves up as your salvation will be the ones behind it. This site sells an agenda and in order to do that it has been built on a foundation of nonsense and bigotry.
Its a well worn path, the exact same one used by the people you suposedly oppose.
And unlike the anon above, do you blame the poster/hockey parent/random-guy-in-traffic for their rude behaviour, or all Canadians like the anon poster above does?
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"If you must kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite about it." Winston Churchill
My point exactly: you can make these arguments (which I agree with), but they would carry so much more credibility without the following perjoratives: “idiots and criminals” “fascistic” “enslave” “fools and crooks”. Let’s take the high ground, after all we’re Canadians and don’t need to step down to their level.
But you objection on commercial reasons is unfounded. Vive usually runs at a slight profit, but not much more than a case of beer's worth. Usually though, it's break even. If it weren't for the cash efforts of a couple people on the site, and the occassional generous soul, we would have been homeless long ago.
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"If you must kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite about it." Winston Churchill