Tories to Announce Deal Forming North America 'Perimeter'

John Ivison, National Post · Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010

Already signed by The US and Mexico in March 2010, this bill will be signed by the US and Canada in January 2011. New name, same game... Welcome to the NAU boys.

The Conservative government is set to announce a landmark security and trade deal with the United States, designed to create a perimeter around North America and allow people and goods to flow more freely across the border.

Sources suggested that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama will sign the broad-ranging agreement in Washington as early as next month.

“It’s big on ideals but maybe not so great on details,” said one person familiar with the negotiations. “But it does use the word ‘perimeter’ many times...The question is, will it reduce the compliance burden at the Canada-U.S. border?”

The New Border Vision is being billed as a 21st century border management system that will include new common consumer product regulations, a pre-clearance agreement for goods crossing the border to expedite waiting times and the use of advanced technology to utilize biometric data for travelers at airports and land crossings, according to people familiar with the plan.

The new framework will likely be discussed when the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visits Ottawa this Monday but government sources said the announcement will not be made by Ms. Clinton. A spokesman for the Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews, said: “No such announcement is planned. We don’t comment on hearsay or speculation.” A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa refused to comment.

Colin Robertson, a senior research fellow with the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, said the agreement is an attempt by the Canadian government to link security to improved access to the U.S. for Canadians.

“‘Perimeter’ is a vital word because back in the Chrétien government days we couldn’t use it because we would get caught up in the sovereignty allergy we too often have,” he said. “It makes a lot of sense.”

The U.S. announced a similar deal with Mexico in March. It included moves to expedite travel and commerce such as secure transit lanes for pre-cleared rail and truck shipments, as well as passenger pre-clearance for individuals.

Business is likely to welcome a more coordinated perimeter approach to regulation and security but one exporter remained skeptical. “A vision without money is a hallucination,” he said.

The U.S. and Canada have taken piecemeal steps to coordinate their efforts against common threats like terrorism. Last year, Canada signed on to the NEXUS membership card and Free and Secure Trade (FAST) trusted traveller programs as a valid means of identification at the border. However, more sweeping agreements have foundered in the past, notably the Security and Prosperity Partnership agreement signed in 2005 by former Prime Minister Paul Martin, ex-U.S. President George W. Bush and former Mexican President Vicente Fox.

The SPP was aimed at reducing the cost of trade and improving the flow of people and information but became a lightning rod for criticism on both sides of the border. In the U.S., CNN anchor Lou Dobbs argued the SPP was part of a plan to merge the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a North American Union, while a number of organizations criticized the agreement for its secrecy.

In Canada, NDP leader Jack Layton said the process was not just unconstitutional but “non-constitutional” because there were no oversight mechanisms. By 2009, all three governments had abandoned the SPP, which is “no longer an active initiative,” according to its website.

Mr. Robertson said that increased integration could impact areas like immigration and refugee policy but was unlikely to lead to a European Union-style agreement. “Economic union would mean a common currency and, over the last couple of years, it has been definitively proven that we are far better off with our own currency,” he said.


Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Tories+announce+deal+forming+North+America+perimeter/3947584/story.html#ixzz18uNcrbc3

Perimeter with U.S. could hurt Canada’s Sovereignty: Opposition

OTTAWA — The opposition is accusing the Harper government of ceding Canadian sovereignty through a proposed deal with the United States that would establish a security perimeter around the two countries as a way to stimulate trade.

While refusing to confirm the talks, the Conservatives defended their efforts to smooth the flow of goods and people across the U.S. border, which businesses complain has been “thickening” with security red tape in recent years.

“We do in fact work in harmony and co-operation with the Americans. The Conservative government believes it’s essential that our borders with the United States be bridges between us, and not barriers,” Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told the House of Commons, adding that the government has taken action to “ensure our borders are closed to crime and open for business.”

But Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said the Conservatives can’t be trusted to stand up for Canada’s sovereignty.

“The Conservatives bowed to the Americans on softwood lumber. They asked for Washington’s approval before acting on the environment. They bought American fighter jets without inviting offers here, in Canada,” Mr. Ignatieff said. “With a record like this, how can Canadians be confident that the government will protect Canada’s sovereignty and the freedom of its citizens in their secret negotiations with the Americans on the border?”

The opposition was reacting to reports this week that the government is negotiating an agreement with the U.S. that would allow “pre-cleared” rail and truck shipments to pass more quickly across the border. The deal, which could be signed as early as January, would see the two countries harmonize regulations in certain areas, such as consumer-product safety, the National Post reported. It’s also believed the deal would involve closer co-operation on law enforcement and the screening of individuals through tools such as biometrics.

The U.S. signed a similar deal this spring with Mexico, the other signatory to the North American Free-Trade Agreement.

A representative for Canadian industry welcomed the talks, saying border bureaucracy has become a “huge issue” for companies that rely on integrated North American supply chains.

“It’s really an issue about manufacturing competitiveness in North America,” said Jayson Myers, chief executive of Manufacturers and Exporters. “What we’re seeing is more and more information requirements, more and more regulatory and compliance requirements, more and more security requirements, more and more fees being charged.”

Industry Minister Tony Clement said there’s “no question” that border thickening has affected trade between the two countries.

“We’re always concerned that homeland security in the United States always trumps everything. It trumps our trade patterns, and I know that the Americans have concerns about security, as they should, but we also have to trade with one another,” Mr. Clement told reporters.

Canada should look to other increasing integration of markets in certain regions, such as the European Union and Southeast Asia, he added. “They do a lot better job of making sure that their supply chains are more integrated, for instance. And so this is a comparative advantage they have over North America. So we’ve got to do a better job because we’re losing business to the world.”

NDP Leader Jack Layton said the security-perimeter proposal should be debated in the House of Commons before being adopted.

“Some people think that maybe Canada should be deeply integrated with the U.S., and because we watch the same TV shows, we should become the same country, virtually. I don’t agree with that, and I don’t think the majority of Canadians do,” he said.


Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Perimeter+with+could+hurt+Canada+sovereignty+opposition/3954157/story.html#ixzz18uJZeFWT

Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Coming in June 2009

Does "REAL ID" ring a bell? How about "Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative?" It looks like almost no one picked up on it in the media...what a shock.

From our resident Jew,(he holds dual Israeli and American citizenship) Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's speech Monday:

"We have a unique opportunity, one that may not come again, to partner with a determined leader in Mexico, so that we can address a shared problem in a partnership way that we cannot afford to ignore. Now of course we are not only focused on efforts to control the border between the ports of entry, we are increasing our security and our efficiency at the ports of entry themselves. We continue to move forward with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which is slated to go into effect in June 2009 at our land and sea ports of entry.

As you will remember, this initiative reduces the types of identification that can be presented at the border so that we get to a requirement of reliable identification for people who want to enter the United States. And it also has eliminated the old system of allowing people to simply orally declare their citizenship and get waved on through.

We have already implemented the first part of our effort to shrink the kind of acceptable documentation at our airports, and compliance has been close to 100 percent. Likewise, as we’ve increased the rigor of our requirements at the land and sea borders, we have found very high compliance rates. And we are working hard to increase the type of reliable documents, and the number of reliable documents which Americans and Canadians can use once this Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative gets implemented in June of next year.

For example, the new pass-card being issued by the State Department has received more than 200,000 applications, and production is set to begin this month. I have applied for one myself. I hope you have to, or you will shortly Secretary Gutierrez. What these cards are going to do is not be more reliable, but they will be faster, because instead of having to read a driver’s license, these will be machine-readable only. You can simply zip through a machine-reader, which will make the process times faster.

The states have also stepped up and become part of the solution to the issue of secure documentation. The state of Washington is currently issuing its own version of an approved, enhanced driver’s license that will be acceptable at the border. New York has announced that it has completed its business plan to begin producing enhanced driver’s licenses. And other states are on the way to doing so as well."

http://corneliusdurden.mindsay.com/north_american_union_is_here.mws

7-Year Plan Aligns U.S. With EU Economy

Six U.S. senators and 49 House members are advisers for a group working toward a Transatlantic Common Market between the U.S. and the European Union by 2015.

The Transatlantic Policy Network – a non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington and Brussels – is advised by the bi-partisan congressional TPN policy group, chaired by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah.

The plan – currently being implemented by the Bush administration with the formation of the Transatlantic Economic Council in April 2007 – appears to be following a plan written in 1939 by a world-government advocate who sought to create a Transatlantic Union as an international governing body.

An economist from the World Bank has argued in print that the formation of the Transatlantic Common Market is designed to follow the blueprint of Jean Monnet, a key intellectual architect of the European Union, recognizing that economic integration must inevitably lead to political integration.

As WND previously reported, a key step in advancing this goal was the creation of the Transatlantic Economic Council by the U.S. and the EU through an agreement signed by President Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel – the current president of the European Council – and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a White House summit meeting last April.

Writing in the Fall 2007 issue of the Streit Council journal “Freedom and Union,” Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., a member of the TPN advisory group, affirmed the target date of 2015 for the creation of a Transatlantic Common Market.

Costa said the Transatlantic Economic Council is tasked with creating the Transatlantic Common Market regulatory infrastructure. The infrastructure would not require congressional approval, like a new free-trade agreement would.

Writing in the same issue of the Streit Council publication, Bennett also confirmed that what has become known as the “Merkel initiative” would allow the Transatlantic Economic Council to integrate and harmonize administrative rules and regulations between the U.S. and the EU “in a very quiet way,” without introducing a new free trade agreement to Congress.

No document on the TEC website suggests that any of the regulatory changes resulting from the process of integrating with the EU will be posted in the Federal Register or submitted to Congress as new free-trade agreements or as modifications to existing trade agreements.

http://stopspp.com/stopspp/?p=428

North American Union Blurring Borders - SPP

In 2005, the Council on Foreign Relations published the “Building a North American Community,” a report that describes a future North American Union and ideas for how to get there.

By 2010 North America will be a single community with one “common perimeter” and no internal borders. There is also talk of redistribution of wealth — meaning, no doubt, that rich Americans should be taxed to aid Mexico in eliminating its perennial corruption and squalid living conditions.

To date, the leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico have followed the CFR’s blueprint in establishment of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. Our government portrays the partnership as being in the best interests of Americans. Who wouldn’t want security and prosperity? However, the connection between security and open borders doesn’t seem to exist. The majority of Americans are already prosperous by global standards.

I should point out that the final product of the partnership will not be another NAFTA. There will be free trade, not to mention free movement of people and potential terrorists between the three nations of North America. But the major problem is that the concept undermines the United States more so than any attack or war in our history. The last time that inhabitants of this land were dealt such a blow to their freedom, they founded a new nation.

The government’s attempt to sneak into a North American Union, one small step at a time, violates the nation’s core principles. The SPP is subject to neither authorization nor oversight of Congress. It is controlled by the executive branch, and enforced through regulations, rather than laws created through the proper legislative process. Basically, the United States is beginning to give up its sovereignty without the average citizen or elected representatives having a say. It’s the worst foreign policy decision since Woodrow Wilson’s laughable League of Nations.

In light of this conspiracy, the federal government’s refusal to enforce immigration laws doesn’t seem so strange. It’s the first step in opening the borders. As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, we can look forward to even greater erosion of our culture and traditions.

Habla espanol? If not, you’d better learn.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America: Next Steps

Updated: March 31, 2006

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America: Next Steps

The three leaders of North America agreed to advance the agenda of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) by focusing on five high priority initiatives:

The North American Competitiveness Council. Increasing private sector engagement in the SPP by adding high-level business input will assist governments in enhancing North America's competitive position and engage the private sector as partners in finding solutions. The Council will:

* Consider issues that could be addressed trilaterally or bilaterally, as improvements in our bilateral relationships enhance North American competitiveness.
* Address issues of immediate importance and provide strategic medium and long-term advice.
* Provide input on the compatibility of our security and prosperity agendas, given the linkages between security and prosperity in a global marketplace.
* Offer ideas on the private sector's role in promoting North American competitiveness.

Advancing Cooperation on Avian and Pandemic Influenza. Leaders agreed to the following principles to guide collaboration on all stages of avian or pandemic influenza management:

* Share information among our governments in an open, timely and transparent manner.
* Adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach that incorporates animal and public health aspects in managing avian influenza and influenza pandemics.
* Ensure coordination within our respective national governments on all aspects of emergency management for an avian influenza outbreak or a human influenza pandemic, by building on existing mechanisms of cooperation and strengthening them as required.
* Coordinate our actions and leverage our respective capacities to ensure rapid and effective steps are taken to deal with avian influenza outbreaks or a human influenza pandemic in North America.
* Advise one another in advance of making any decision that could seriously affect the other countries.
* Base our actions on the best available science and evidence-based decision-making.
* Agree that the imposition and removal of veterinary or public health measures on the movement of people, animals, and goods, under our national laws and international obligations, will not be more restrictive or maintained longer than necessary to achieve the veterinary or public health objective so as to avoid unnecessary interference with the movement of people and goods within North America.
* Ensure that the business continuity plans of our respective governments consider the highly interconnected nature of our economies.
* Strive to utilize clear and consistent messaging to the public and international organizations that is proactive, timely and accurate.

North American Energy Security Initiative. A secure and sustainable energy supply is essential for our economic prosperity in North America. To advance our energy agenda we have agreed to:

* Enhance the development of a diverse energy resource base in North America by increasing collaboration on research, development and commercialization of clean energy-related technologies, and
* Strengthen the North American energy market by improving transparency and regulatory compatibility, promoting the development of resources and infrastructure, increasing cooperation on energy efficiency standards, and supporting other efforts aimed at addressing challenges on the demand side.

North American Emergency Management. The commitments made in the SPP recognize that a disaster - whether natural or man-made - in one North American country can have consequences across national borders, and may demand a common approach to all aspects of emergency management. Recent experience with hurricanes, ice storms, industrial accidents and the like demonstrate our interdependencies, as well as the need for coordination and mutual assistance in protecting and safekeeping our populations. Moving forward we will:

* Develop a common approach to critical infrastructure protection, and response to cross border terrorist incidents and natural disasters, across a number of different sectors including, but not limited to, transportation, energy, and telecommunications.
* Develop and implement joint plans for cooperation for incident response, as well as conduct coordinated training and exercises in emergency response.

Smart, Secure Borders. Leaders agreed to complete the following activities, to contribute to smart and secure borders, over the next twenty-four months:

* Collaborate to establish risk-based screening standards for goods and people that rely on technology, information sharing and biometrics.
* Develop and implement compatible electronic processes for supply chain security that use advanced electronic cargo information to analyze risk and ensure quick and efficient processing at the border;
* Develop standards and options for secure documents to facilitate cross-border travel;
* Exchange additional law enforcement liaison officers to assist in criminal and security investigations; and,
* Develop coordinated business resumption plans at border crossings to ensure legitimate trade continues.

More...

http://www.spp.gov/factsheet.asp