Reasons to steer clear of Fortress North America

May 20, 2005

20 May 2005

Reasons to steer clear of Fortress North America

The following article by David Crane is excerpted from the 20 May 2005 edition of the “Toronto Star”.

The United States is embarked on a confrontation with China, threatening it with trade sanctions unless it revalues its currency within six months. If it implemented trade sanctions, should Canada do the same?

We might have no choice if we followed the advice of a group of Canadians who want us to adopt a common external tariff with the United States. American enemies could automatically become our enemies….

Would we want to do this? We might have no choice if we had the kind of North American security perimeter promoted by these same Canadians.

The U.S. Air Force is seeking approval from the Bush administration for the eventual deployment of offensive and defensive weapons in space. Would we want to support such a move? We might not have a choice if there is a single North American Defence Command, also proposed by these same Canadians.

These kinds of proposals clearly run counter to Canada's best interests as we move into a much different 21st century world where we must have a global, not a continental, viewpoint. They would seriously undermine Canada's capacity to retain its geopolitical independence and the room to pursue its own policies and interests.

The Canadians making these proposals include people like Allan Gotlieb, our former ambassador to the United States; Tom d'Aquino, president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives; Michael Hart, a former Canada-U.S. free trade negotiator turned academic; and Wendy Dobson, whose proposal for a "big idea" linking Canada and the United States in a security/trade pact was published by the C.D. Howe Institute. They see our future as deeply integrated into the United States.

Their ideas were published in detail this week in the final report of a trilateral task force on the future of North America, Building a North American Community. Its Canadian chair was former deputy prime minister John Manley….

But the work of the task force was primarily led by the staff of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, which supplied a good part of the funding.

Their vision of a "Fortress North America" against the rest of the world calls for a "common security perimeter by 2010," adding this will require "specific policy, strategy and procedural changes" in Canada, the United States and Mexico….

They also want to create "a common economic zone" in North America that would include adoption of a common external tariff. This could force Canada to adopt U.S. positions in future trade negotiations with the rest of the world. There's also the big issue of what would happen when the United States imposes trade sanctions on its latest enemy, or imposes anti-dumping or countervail penalties, as it often does, for protectionist reasons on products from other parts of the world.

The same task force wants to expand NAFTA to include areas previously left out, which could include Canadian cultural policies, let the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decide which drugs can be sold in Canada, and bring about much greater regulatory harmonization. It wants a new North American Defence Council to oversee a North American "air, sea and land" defence perimeter. One of its biggest concerns is to make sure Canada does more to help the United States meet its insatiable oil and gas needs. It says Canada is not doing enough.

Obviously, there are many areas where NAFTA partners can and already do co-operate in border infrastructure, fighting crime and terrorism, and working together on the environment and education.

But Canada's best interests, including our business interests, do not lie in locking ourselves into a Fortress North America. The world will change dramatically in the years ahead, and what Canada needs is a global vision of its future, not that of a de facto 51st state.


Topic(s): 
Rules of Origin & Trade Agreements / Trade Agreements
Information Source: 
Canadian News Channel
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