Creating a North American Union?

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http://www.jonesreport.com/articles/190207_creating_nau.htmlCreating a North American Union? 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Indicts 11 GOP Operatives for Voter Registration FraudGOP 'Party of Death', TooChristians Dissatisfied with Public Education Get TERRORSTORM on DVD now 9/11 and more at PrisonPlanet.tv Andrew Marshall / Jones Report | February 19, 2007If I were to tell you that there were plans in place, and indeed already underway in action, written up and implemented by a small group of very powerful people to merge the US, Canada and Mexico into a EU-like super-state, commonly referred to as the North American Union, you would probably respond by calling me a crazy conspiracy nut. Well, call me crazy, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is more true than one can imagine, and is happening right in front of our eyes, hidden in plane sight, and at the highest levels of government and industry. Yes, I am aware of the fact that this sounds outrageously conspiratorial, and in fact, it is, however, it is a conspiracy on their part to not have the public aware of what is going on. The information related to this plan is all publicly available, however, their plan is to not let us be aware that this information exists in the first place. So, who are these people and what are the plans? It’s hard to say when exactly it started, since it is conceivably understandable that it is merely an extension of NAFTA and the cross-border agreements over the past many years. However, there are a few key institutions and documents as well as government bodies that are deeply involved in pursuing what they term, “deep integration” between the US, Canada and Mexico. The US-based think-tank, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), made up of top US politicians, corporate executives and media published a document which is readily available from their website, titled “Building a North American Community” (2005). It was co-sponsored by the Canadian interest group, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), a group made up of the CEO’s of Canada’s 150 top corporations, as well as the Mexican equivalent group, Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales, made up of Mexico’s top CEOs. The report came out of a new grouping within the CFR, called the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America. In this report, they detail the direction that all three North American governments should be going in order to achieve this goal of deep integration. Why do they want deep integration? Well, they say that it is necessary for a variety of reasons. First, they cite that it is in the security interests of all three nations, as we all now share, especially the US and Canada, a common security threat, of terrorism. They also claim that it is a response to the challenges in economic security and growth between the countries. Another factor they mention is that it is necessary in order to alleviate the growing gap in economic development between the countries, especially Mexico. The solution they propose to these problems are to continue prospects of a closer military relationship with the US, and bring Mexico into it, looking at security issues as North Americans rather than as separate sovereign entities. It also states that “A new North American community should rely more on the market and less on bureaucracy”. It further directs that we should focus on a “common economic space”. The recommendations of the Task Force are as follows: “Establish a common security perimeter by 2010”, meaning that instead of having borders between lour countries, we should protect the collective North American border around our countries. It also recommends developing a North American border pass. This is in actuality continental ID Card, which they recommend to have biometric identifiers, meaning that it will contain a digital sample of either a DNA sample, fingerprint, retina scan or other equally Orwellian tracking device. This, they explain, is used to create a database of “risk-free” North Americans, to allow them to cross the borders freely, only having to present this “smart card”. It all sounds great and secure, unless of course you’re Maher Arar, and are on a watch list for unknown reasons. The next step, it says, is to develop a “Unified North American border action plan”, which details how all three countries should “harmonize” their actions related to exporting, importing, and to share data about foreign nationals (because we all know the US has perfect data). They later suggest making NORAD a “multiservice Defense Command”, meaning that they want to expand NORAD’s control from air forces to land and naval defenses as well. They also suggest to “increase information and intelligence-sharing at the local and national levels in both law enforcement and military organizations”. They also explain how part of their agenda is to “spread economic development” into Mexico and raise their standard of living. They further recommend establishing a North American investment fund for infrastructure development, as well as enhancing the capacity of the North American Development Bank. Then, they come in for another tricky one, by suggesting to “Develop a North American resource strategy”. This is essentially a grab at the Canadian oil sands, which they specifically mentioned in order to make them not only more accessible for foreign corporations and governments, but also to help fuel the continental community. They suggest to create a North American energy strategy, as well as developing Mexico’s energy resources and form a continental resource Accord. Later on in the report, they mention that we should “adopt a common external tariff”, that “a permanent tribunal for North American dispute resolution” should be formulated much in the design of the WTO, as well as recommending the establishment of a tri-national competition commission to combat unfair prices between the countries and promote healthy competition. Make no mistake, this affects every sector and every person and every imaginable element of our societies. For instance, in the area of health care, they mention “Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals play a vital role in providing new treatments that improve health outcomes and often reduce costs as well”. They suggest the implementation of a “tested once” policy, where a medical product that is tested once in one country, say for example, Mexico, doesn’t get tested by the US and Canada respectively because it already passed Mexico’s standards, which, they say by 2010, are to be shared standards between all three countries. They later claim that there should also be a process of “integrating protection of food, health, and the environment”. Later, they also recommend creating a North American education program. In the latter part of the report they suggest forming a North American summit meeting, where the Canadian Prime Minister, and the US and Mexican Presidents all meet up once a year to promote the North American community. They also suggest making a North American Advisory Council made up of “non-governmental” figures, such as people from the business community. Lastly, they suggest forming a North American Inter-Parliamentary Group. Okay, now that the report has been analyzed, (and please go to the CFRs website, download it and read it for yourself), I will examine who is behind the report and how far along it has come into being implemented. At the end of the report they give a list and biography for all of the Task Force Members. They include, Heidi S. Cruz, an energy investment banker with Merrill Lynch, after leaving the White House where she worked for Condoleeza Rice as the Economic Director for the Western Hemisphere of the National Security Council, and before then worked as an investment banker with J.P. Morgan Chase. Nelson Cunningham, a managing partner of Kissinger McLarty Associates, a law firm jointly run by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Cunningham used to serve in the Clinton White House as Special Advisor to the President for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Thomas P. d’Aquino, the CEO of the Canadian interest group, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), used to serve as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister. Wendy K. Dobson, a professor at University of Toronto, former President of the C.D. Howe Institute (a pro-big business think tank in Canada which has published a number of papers on North American “integration”), and was also Associate Deputy Minister of Finance. Currently, she is Vice Chair of the Canadian Public Accountability Board and is on the boards of several corporations. Richard A. Falkenrath is a fellow at the Brookings Institution, formerly served as Deputy Homeland Security Adviser at the White House, and currently is also a security analyst for CNN. Gordon D. Griffin, former US Ambassador to Canada (1997-2001), and currently sits on many corporate boards. Allan Gotlieb, former Canadian Ambassador to the US, as well as Undersecretary of State for External Affairs and Chairman of the Canadian Council, also currently sits on a number of Canadian and US corporate boards. Michael Hart, from Carleton University in Ottawa, a former official in Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Carla A. Hills, Vice Chairman of the US-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), previously served as an Ambassador, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as well as being in the US Justice Department. Pierre Marc Johnson, former Premier of Québec, currently Professor of Law at McGill University and adviser to the UN. James R. Jones, former US Ambassador to Mexico as well as Congressman, and Chief of Staff to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Chappell H. Lawson, the Project Director of the Task Force, is a political science professor at MIT, and before then served as Director for Inter-American Affairs on the National Security Council. Another recognizable name is John P. Manley, former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, having also held positions in government in industry, foreign affairs, and finance. He helped negotiate the Smart Border Agreement with US Secretary of Homeland Security, Thomas Ridge, right after 9/11. Doris M. Meissner has worked as a senior official in the US Department of Justice during the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations. She returned to government during the Clinton years. Thomas M.T. Niles was former US Ambassador to Canada, to the European Union as well as having served as Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Canada. And of course, Robert Pastor, currently director of North American Studies at American University. He has previously served as Director of Latin American Affairs on the National Security Council. Now this is by no means a full list, however, a mere sampling presents a common disturbing fact, that all the people involved in this seem to be very close to high places in government. To see what corporations are represented by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), visit their website where they present a full list. However, a partial list includes the CEOs of Shell Canada, Imperial Oil, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bell Canada, BMO Financial Group, Bombardier, CAE Inc, CPR, CIBC, CN, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, CanWest Global Communications Corporation, Dow Chemical Canada, Ford Canada, Hewlett-Packard Canada, General Electric Canada, General Motors Canada, Honda Canada, Home Depot, HSBC Canada, IBM Canada, Imperial Tobacco Canada, Kodak Canada, Manulife Financial, Maple Leaf Foods, Mitsubishi Canada, Microsoft Canada, Nortel Networks, National Bank of Canada, Power Corporation of Canada, Petro-Canada, Quebecor Inc, Rogers Communications, Royal Bank of Canada, SNC-Lavalin Group, Sun Life Financial, Suncor Energy, TD Bank Financial Group, TELUS, Toyota Canada, TransCanada Corporation, Xerox Canada and Yellow Pages Group. This, again, is not a full list. Other Canadian groups that have published publicly available reports (downloadable online at their respective websites), on the issue of North American “deep integration” or the North American Union, include the C.D. Howe Institute and the Fraser Institute. Now, when you realize that Canada’s largest media corporations, particularly CanWest Global Communications (National Post, CH/Global TV), Quebecor Inc, and Bell Canada, it certainly can be explained as to why we do not know about any of this, or why it isn’t published in our newspapers. So how far along has this plan actually come? Well, upon investigation, it has come along surprisingly well with full government support and no public oversight. The recommendations laid out in the report are underway. An advisory council was appointed, they are known as the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), made up of representatives from leading businesses in Canada, the US and Mexico. The minutes of their meetings are available from their website. They mention how they met on August 15, 2006, in the offices of the United States Chamber of Commerce. Their job is to come up with “suggestions” on how to better integrate the North American economies in such a way that it will be economically secure and beneficial. I’m sure that none of the corporations involved will seek to profit themselves. The participants from this meeting included top corporate executives from Lockheed Martin (the world’s largest military corporation), the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Manulife Financial, Whirlpool, General Motors, NBC Universal (owned by General Electric), Council of the Americas, Merck & Co. (large pharmaceutical corporation), Suncor Energy, Canadian National railway Company, Chevron, Campbell Soup Company, New York Life Insurance Company, Wal-Mart, For Motors, U.S Chamber of Commerce, Bank of America, Bell Canada, UPS, FedEx, Home Depot and the Bank of Nova Scotia. How about the goal of having the leaders of each country meet once a year? Well it turns out, that started the year that the report was published, in 2005. It’s called the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America” (www.SPP.gov), and it was launched in March 2005, “as a trilateral effort to increase security and enhance prosperity among the United States, Canada and Mexico through greater cooperation and information sharing”, according to the US government’s website set up for this program. In 2005, U.S President George W. Bush met with Mexican President Vincente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Texas, where they all signed on to the SPP initiative. As part of their press release and joint statement they claim that it is designed to “implement common border security and bioprotection strategies”, to “implement a common approach to emergency response”, as well as “Implement improvements in aviation and maritime security, combat transnational threats, and enhance intelligence partnerships”, “Improve productivity through regulatory cooperation to generate growth”, and of course, to “Promote sectoral collaboration in energy, transportation, financial services, technology, and other areas to facilitate business”. Later in the year, a publicly available “Report to Leaders” on the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) was written up and signed by the following people: Michael Chertoff (US Secretary of Homeland Security), Condoleeza Rice, Carlos Gutierrez (US Secretary of Commerce), their Mexican counterparts, as well as Canadian representatives including (interestingly enough), David Emerson (former Minister of Industry), Anne McLellan (former Deputy PM and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), as well as Pierre Stewart Pettigrew (former Minister of Foreign Affairs). The leaders of the three countries again met in 2006, this time in Mexico, again in March, where Bush, Fox, and then current Canadian PM Stephen Harper signed another agreement for the SPP. Another report was also made for the leaders on the implementation of the SPP, written up by the same US representatives from the previous report, as well as their Mexican counterparts, and this time, with a new Canadian membership, including Maxime Bernier (Minister of Industry), Stockwell Day (Minister of Public Safety) and Peter MacKay (Minister of Foreign Affairs). Next month, the three leaders are again scheduled to meet up, this time, in Canada. Now keep in mind, this has not been declared a treaty, which is why the Canadian Parliament and American and Mexican Congresses have not provided oversight nor is it common knowledge among all three countries. This is so because it is termed as more of an “initiative” than a treaty. So it is implemented simply by the respective Executive branches of all three governments. So, for the recommendation of having an annual meeting, they have also managed to sneakily implement such a thing. Last September, in 2006, there was a meeting held at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, the North American Forum meeting was held. It took place from September 12-14 and was sued as a venue to discuss North American integration. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in the US by Judicial Watch were released publicly on their website. These documents include a list of those members that were present at the meeting. There were three Chairmen of the Forum, one from each represented country, George P. Schultz, former US Secretary of State for Reagan, Pedro Aspe, former Finance Minister of Mexico and the Canadian counterpart, Peter Lougheed, the former Premier of Alberta made up the Chairmanship. The Canadian participants of the North American Forum included, Perrin Beatty (CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters), Peter M. Boehm (Assistant Deputy Minister, North America), Thomas d’Aquino (CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives), Stockwell Day (Minister of Public Safety), Wendy Dobson (Prof. UofT), Ward Elcock (Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence), William J.S. Elliott (Associate Deputy Minister, Public Safety), Richard L. George (CEO of Suncor Energy), Roger Gibbons (CEO of Canada West Foundation), RAdm Roger Girouard (Commander, Maritime Forces Pacific), Maj. General Daniel Gosselin (Director General, International Security Policy, Canadian Forces), James K. Gray (Chairman of Canada West Foundation), Fred Green (CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway), V. Peter Harder (Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs and International Trade), Harold Kvisle (CEO of TransCanada Corporation), Gaetan Lavertu (Canadian Ambassador to Mexico), John P. Manley, Anne McLellan (former Deputy Prime Minister), Greg Melchin (Minister of Energy, Government of Alberta), Gordon J. O’Connor (Minister of Defense, Government of Canada), and Colin Robertson (Minister and Head of the Washington Advocacy Secretariat, Canadian Embassy). The Mexican participants included Chief Economist to the President, the Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Mexican Ambassador to the US, former Deputy Minister of the Economy, former Senator and Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on North America, the Secretary of Public Security, Mexican Ambassador to Canada, a former trade negotiator and CEOs of some of Mexico’s top corporations. The US participants included Leslie Bassett (Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S Embassy Mexico City), Deborah Bolton (Political Advisor to Commander, US Northern Command [NORTHCOM]), Ron Covais (President of Lockheed Martin Corporation), Kenneth Dam (former Secretary of the Treasury), John Dickson (Deputy Chief Mission, US Embassy in Ottawa), Daniel Fata (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for European and NATO Policy), Daniel Fisk (Special Advisor to President Bush, Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs on the National Security Council), Ryan Henry (Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense), Thomas Huffaker (U.S Consul in Calgary), William Irwin (Manager of Chevron Corporation), Admiral Tim Keating (Commander, US Northern Command), E. Floyd Kvamme (Co-Chair, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology), William McIlhenny (Member of Policy Planning Council for Western Hemisphere Affairs, US Department of State), Peter McPherson (President, National Association of State Universities & Land-Grant Colleges), George Nethercutt, Jr. (U.S Chairman of the U.S.-Canada Permanent Joint Board on Defense), Mary Anastasia O’Grady (Editorial Board Member, the Wall Street Journal), General Peter Pace (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Robert Pastor (Director, North American Studies, American University – wrote the CFR document), William Perry (Professor at Stanford University, former Secretary of Defense), James Schlesinger (Former Secretary of Energy and Defense; former Director of the CIA), Clay Sell (Deputy Secretary of Energy), Thomas Shannon, Jr. (Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs), Maj. General Mark Volcheff (Director of Plans, Policy & strategy, NORAD-NORTHCOM), and James Woolsey (former Director of the CIA). Are you concerned yet? If not, you should be. What exactly is going on here? Why are all these current and former government officials meeting with big corporate CEOs to create a “North American Community”? Could it really be that they want to raise Mexico’s standard of living that much? To this day, the only mainstream media voice to come out and say it like it is, calling this an elitist scheme to merge the three countries into an EU-like super-state, is Lou Dobbs on CNN. Recently, he had Robert Pastor on as a guest. Lou Dobbs quoted something out of the recently declassified documents that Judicial Watch obtained, and quoted Pastor as saying during the North American Forum meeting,"While a vision is appealing, working on the infrastructure might yield more benefit and bring more people on board, evolution by stealth." Dobbs continues to explain that this is destroying the sovereignty of all three nations and is completely in violation of the Constitution. Robert Pastor, in an October 24, 2006 interview with a Spanish publication, Poder y Negocios was quoted as saying, “What I'm saying is that a crisis is an event which can force democratic governments to make difficult decisions like those that will be required to create a North American Community. It's not that I want another 9/11 crisis, but having a crisis would force decisions that otherwise might not get made.” This summation of the current processes under way to create a North American Union is by no means an extensive list. There are dozens of organizations, think tanks, interest and other groups in all three countries that are participating in the creation of this new integrated “community”. For example, one organization known as Triumvirate, has hundreds of students from Universities from all three countries come together once a year to simulate a meeting of a North American Parliament. Other participants in the simulations include journalists and lobbyists, however, it seems apparently clear that the journalists aren’t doing their “real” jobs, since we don’t know about it. Their website claims that the main objectives of this organization are to “raise awareness among future North American leaders regarding regional integration issues”, “to develop their sense of a North American identity”, and “to promote the creation of North American academic networks”. Participants in the Triumvirate include American University, Baruch College, Carleton University, Laval University, Simon Fraser University, and the Student Organization of North America. It seems as if Robert Pastor’s “evolution by stealth” is indeed on its way. The question is, whether or not the Canadian, American and Mexican people will wake up to the reality and facts in time to stop it, or in the very least, have some say, because at the moment, what is being done is a disgrace to sovereign Constitutionalism, and a total attack upon Democracy. I am simply writing this article to try and inform people on what I have researched and found to be going on in North America today. Here, we have CEOs of some of the largest corporations in the World, from the largest military contractor and war profiteer, Lockheed Martin, to an oil giant like Chevron, a mega-pharmaceutical corporation like Merck and to the world’s largest media corporation General Electric (also a military contractor), actually sitting down with the leaders of our countries to plan the disintegration of our countries and elimination of our Constitutions, to form a supranational entity called the North American Union. If this Union is ever formed, for ANY reason, it will signal the end of Democracy, because it was brought about through lies, subversion of democratic rights and pure contempt for national sovereignty. You cannot lift an idol of Democracy from a swamp of lies and deception. If we do this, we do it democratically, or not at all. All that can come of this is that we hand over all rights, freedoms, responsibilities, and power to an undemocratic super-state. Sounds good for big oil, sounds good for the power of the military, sounds good for a war economy, sounds good for warring leaders and corporate oligarchy. Sounds like the end of everything Democracy and Freedom have ever accomplished. Andrew Marshall is a 19 year old Political Science student at Simon Fraser University. He can be reached by email at agm2.