- WASHINGTON - North American
national borders would be virtually eliminated under plans being considered
by senior business and political leaders from Canada, the United States
and Mexico for a "NAFTA-plus," continent-wide, customs-free zone
with a common approach to trade, energy, immigration, law enforcement and
security.
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- A tri-national task force, chaired by former Liberal
Party deputy prime minister John Manley, with the full backing of all three
governments, is plotting the roadmap for this new, bolder alliance meant
to compete with the European Union. William Weld, former governor of Massachusetts
and Pedro Aspe, former Mexican finance minister, join Manley on the panel
that reports directly to the Council on Foreign Relations.
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- The mission has the formal blessing of Tom Ridge, U.S.
Homeland Security secretary, who is close with President Bush.
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- The committee is scheduled to issue its report next spring.
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- The elimination of borders along the lines of the EU
experiment seems to be high on the agenda of the panel.
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- "I think we've had 11 years of incrementalism, and
during that time we've seen the EU expand its borders, eliminate borders
among (member) countries and launch a common currency," explains Manley
in the diplomatic magazine Embassy. "We're going to have to provide
a vision that is more bold than incrementalism. What's the choice? Europe
has made enormous steps in the years since NAFTA was signed. China has
been going through a transformative process. In Canada, our only leverage
is access to the U.S. market. If we're not going to develop and pursue
how we use our advantage of location to be the foundation for future prosperity,
then we are going to have to figure out another vision."
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- The "NAFTA-plus" plan has also been referred
to as "deep integration." Skeptics see it as a plan to eliminate
national sovereignty and erode the American concept of representative government
accountable to the people under the framework of the Constitution.
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- Discussions so far indicate that Canada, under the new
agreement, would immediately sign on to the U.S. strategic missile defense
initiative. Canada would also make its vast lumber resources available
to the U.S. and Mexican markets and provide more open access to the northern
neighbor's oil, natural gas and hydro-electric power resources.
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- Other members of the task force include: Canadian Finance
Minister Michael Wilson and Nelson Cunningham of Henry Kissinger's consulting
firm, Kissinger McLarty Associates.
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- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41447
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