Top North American officials play down criticism that talks too secretive

[Spazito]

OTTAWA (CP) - Top North American ministers deflected criticism that they had consulted only big business for their talks on trade and security rules, suggesting Friday there are "different venues" for public interest and labour groups to raise their concerns and suggestions.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) is an ongoing dialogue between Canada, the United States and Mexico to find more common ground on issues ranging from border security to emergency preparedness. The group has an arm of business leaders that provides myriad recommendations, but has no formal mechanism for consulting the public at large.

snip

The SPP was struck by the leaders of the three countries in 2005 to enhance the continent's competitiveness, but for at least the first year received little attention with their dry talk on regulations and cutting down on paperwork. Recently nationalist groups and politicians in Canada and the United States have raised alarm bells over the lack of formal consultation with either civil society or legislatures.

Some of the issues the ministers discussed during their meetings included finalizing a North American plan on dealing with a flu pandemic and another on a common regulatory environment in all three countries. That could include common food safety rules - Canada currently has more stringent rules for fortified products. Insiders say the value of the SPP is that it puts the weight of ministers and national leaders behind projects that might normally languish for years among bureaucrats.

more

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=3a72e600-b154-4bfa-b9e3-d2f7a587f918&k=9984

[CHIMO]

1. Just Another

Plank in fortress America. Or North America which includes Canada, US and Mexico. So why even waste money on fences?

[youngdem]

2. "What talks?" said one official, in response to the secrecy charges

[CHIMO]

3. 'We agree to disagree' with U.S. on Arar: MacKay

Canada and the United States "agree to disagree" on the status of Maher Arar, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Friday alongside his U.S. counterpart, Condoleezza Rice.

MacKay, Rice and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa spoke at a press conference in Ottawa following a day of high-level talks on a range of issues, including trade, security and flu pandemic response plans.

Friday's talks were part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership deal, which was first struck in 2005 with the goal to improve competitiveness and public safety between the three countries.

Earlier Friday, MacKay said the trilateral talks are an opportunity to discuss problems, such as those involving new U.S. passport requirements to enter the country.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/02/23/trilateral-talks-070223.html

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Canada's New Democratic Party condemns sellout of Canada

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 22, 2007

NDP CONDEMNS HARPER'S PUSH TO SELL OUT CANADA

OTTAWA - The Harper government must pull out of further talks on
continental integration with the United States and Mexico or risk our
national sovereignty, says NDP Trade Critic Peter Julian (Burnaby-New
Westminster). Julian commented in advance of the February 23 meeting
to be held in Ottawa where American and Mexican officials will join
Canadian cabinet ministers to push forward the so-called "Security and
Prosperity Partnership" (SPP) agenda.
Julian was joined by NDP Energy Critic, Dennis Bevington (Western
Arctic).

Julian denounced the sellout of Canada.

"The previous Liberal government engaged Canada in a slow merger
process with the United States and Stephen Harper is accelerating the
agenda," said Julian. "The NDP demands a full debate in Parliament on
this issue. Everyday Canadians have the right to know what is being
negotiated."

Changes to some 300 policy and program areas are being promoted as
benign "efficiency" measures. The ongoing extensive consultations in
the SPP process will lead to an unacceptable level of regulatory
harmonization with the surrender of Canadian energy, immigration,
health care, food safety, and environmental policies and to complete
military integration with the US.

"Canada is not the gas tank of the United States. NAFTA already locks
us into supplying energy to the United States even if ordinary
Canadians go without; a North American Union would only make this
worse," said Bevington.

"Canadians should know that the SPP process supports a North American
Union (NAU). The NDP rejects the secretive process surrounding these
ongoing discussions. Canadians will never support a political ideology
which aims at turning North America into a fortress for corporate
interests and neglects the interests of ordinary Canadians. Canadian
sovereignty is not for sale to the highest bidder and the federal
government has no authority to push for a NAU without a mandate from
Canadians," said Julian.

Julian reiterated the NDP's full support for civil society demands
that North American leaders discuss issues vital to the public
interest: the growing prosperity gap in Canada, Mexico, and the US;
the need for guarantees of universal access to public health services;
and for immediate joint efforts to combat global warming rather than
North American Integration.

-30-

For more information, please contact:
Office of Peter Julian, 613-992-4214
Ian Capstick, Press Secretary, 613-720-6400

http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/20070222143429458

[UTUSN]

5. Ah, more Jerome CORSI

*******QUOTE*******

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3994.htm

.... In a column posted yesterday on Salon.com, Joe Conason writes: "Preferring to avoid public scrutiny for obvious reasons, executives at the Carlyle Group usually say nothing about their firm's connections with the Bush dynasty. But last April 23, Carlyle managing director David Rubenstein spoke quite frankly about the comfy sinecure he provided to George W. Bush more than a decade ago -- and how useless Bush turned out to be. Whether he knew it or not, Rubenstein's remarks to the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association were recorded."

Rubenstein said, "We put (Bush) on the board and (he) spent three years. Came to all the meetings. Told a lot of jokes. Not that many clean ones. And after a while I kind of said to him, after about three years - you know, I'm not sure this is really for you. Maybe you should do something else. Because I don't think you're adding that much value to the board. You don't know that much about the company.

Rubenstein continued: "He said, 'Well, I think I'm getting out of this business anyway. And I don't really like it that much. So I'm probably going to resign from the board.' And I said, thanks - didn't think I'd ever see him again. His name is George W. Bush. He became President of the United States. So you know if you said to me, name 25 million people who would maybe be President of the United States, he wouldn't have been in that category. So you never know. Anyway, I haven't been invited to the White House for any things." ....

********UNQUOTE*******

************QUOTE*************

http://www.spp.gov/

Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America

http://www.spp.gov/myths_vs_facts.asp Text
Myth vs. Fact
Myth: The SPP was an agreement signed by Presidents Bush and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts in Waco, TX, on March 23, 2005.

Fact: The SPP is a dialogue to increase security and enhance prosperity among the three countries. The SPP is not an agreement nor is it a treaty. In fact, no agreement was ever signed.

Myth: The SPP is a movement to merge the United States, Mexico, and Canada into a North American Union and establish a common currency.

Fact: The cooperative efforts under the SPP, which can be found in detail at www.spp.gov, seek to make the United States, Canada and Mexico open to legitimate trade and closed to terrorism and crime. It does not change our courts or legislative processes and respects the sovereignty of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The SPP in no way, shape or form considers the creation of a European Union-like structure or a common currency. The SPP does not attempt to modify our sovereignty or currency or change the American system of government designed by our Founding Fathers. ....more



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_and_Prosperity_Partnership_of_North_America

Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
.... Canadian criticism has also been directed at the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), a committee made up of 10 CEOs each from Mexico, the United States and Canada, which has been asked to reduce the over 300 recommendations in the SPP down to about 30 achievable goals. NACC members include CEOs from Wal-Mart, Chevron, Lockheed Martin, FedEx, General Electric and Ford, among others. Of the ten Canadian CEOs on the NACC, nine are members of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the driving force behind the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Canadian representative on the trinational Task Force on the Future of North America, whose recommendations led to the creation of the SPP.

The NACC will meet with government reps from all three countries to discuss their proposals in September 2006.


http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=14965

North American Union to Replace USA?

by Jerome R. Corsi
Posted May 19, 2006

.... President Bush intends to abrogate U.S. sovereignty to the North American Union, a new economic and political entity which the President is quietly forming, much as the European Union has formed.

The blueprint President Bush is following was laid out in a 2005 report entitled "Building a North American Community" published by the left-of-center Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). The CFR report connects the dots between the Bush administration's actual policy on illegal immigration and the drive to create the North American Union: ....


http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=15497

Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway

by Jerome R. Corsi
Posted Jun 12, 2006

.... A good reason Bush does not want to secure the border with Mexico may be that the administration is trying to create express lanes for Mexican trucks to bring containers with cheap Far East goods into the heart of the U.S., all without the involvement of any U.S. union workers on the docks or in the trucks.

Mr. Corsi is the author of several books, including "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" (along with John O'Neill), "Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil" (along with Craig R. Smith), and "Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians." He is a frequent guest on the G. Gordon Liddy radio show. He will soon co-author a new book with Jim Gilchrist on the Minuteman Project.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=15623

North American Union Would Trump U.S. Supreme Court

by Jerome R. Corsi
Posted Jun 19, 2006

The Bush Administration is pushing to create a North American Union out of the work on-going in the Department of Commerce under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America in the NAFTA office headed by Geri Word. A key part of the plan is to expand the NAFTA tribunals into a North American Union court system that would have supremacy over all U.S. law, even over the U.S. Supreme Court, in any matter related to the trilateral political and economic integration of the United States, Canada and Mexico. ....

http://www.wnd.com/news/archives.asp?AUTHOR_ID=246

Coming soon to U.S.: Mexican customs office

Monday, June 05, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- Kansas City is planning to allow the Mexican government to open a Mexican customs office in conjunction with the Kansas City SmartPort. This will be the first foreign customs facility allowed to operate on U.S. soil.

Southern border blurs for global trade

Thursday, June 01, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- The Texas segment of the NAFTA Super Corridor is moving rapidly toward approval. When built, the Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, will be a major super-highway with six lanes mo ...

Bush border policy linked to Carlyle deal?

Tuesday, May 23, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- In January 2004, the Carlyle Group put together a new team to begin investing in Mexico. The team consisted of Luis T鬬ez, who was then an executive vice president of Desc, one of Mexico's larges ...

Immigration reform spells death for GOP

Friday, May 19, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- To measure what exactly the Senate is doing in putting together a "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" bill, we have to ask what is going to change after the bill is passed: No illegal immigrant currently in the United Stat ...

Border fence will never be built

Thursday, May 18, 2006 by Jerome R. Corsi -- The Senate voted to approve the amendment submitted by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to build a 370-mile section of triple-layered fence along the Mexican border. Now the Bush administration is trying to push this as a victory for conservative ...


http://mediamatters.org/items/200408060010

MMFA investigates: Who is Jerome Corsi, co-author of Swift Boat Vets attack book?

....
• Corsi on Islam: "a worthless, dangerous Satanic religion"

• Corsi on Catholicism: "Boy buggering in both Islam and Catholicism is okay with the Pope as long as it isn't reported by the liberal press"

• Corsi on Muslims: "RAGHEADS are Boy-Bumpers as clearly as they are Women-Haters -- it all goes together"

• Corsi on "John F*ing Commie Kerry": "After he married TerRAHsa, didn't John Kerry begin practicing Judiasm? He also has paternal grandparents that were Jewish. What religion is John Kerry?"

• Corsi on Senator "FAT HOG" Clinton: "Anybody ask why HELLary couldn't keep BJ Bill satisfied? Not lesbo or anything, is she?" ....

********UNQUOTE*******

[CHIMO]

6. Not Sure

On what you are trying to say.

But in so far as governments enacting legislation, why don't you start off on this item.

Status of MTBE (Methyl t-Butyl Ether)and MMT (methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl)

In 1998, Ethyl sued the government of Canada for blocking MMT use there on health grounds. The company argued that Canada violated the North American Free Trade Agreement. The government agreed to settle out of court and pay Ethyl $13 million.

http://www.chemcases.com/converter/converter-27.htm

Just Google NAFTA and MTBE. Put Canada in there as well.

[Spazito]

8. Gosh, I don't see Corsi's name anywhere in the article...

could you point it out to me? This is a mainstream article about a meeting that took place today and is about a group that has been meeting discussing major changes to all three countries without any public scrutiny or raised in the governing houses be it the Canadian Parliament or the Houses of Congress.

Given your government's actions in stepping on and tearing up your Constitution, to quote your president "a god damned piece of paper", I would have thought such secrecy as has been occurring here might concern you. It certainly is beginning to concern more and more people, excluding the creep Corsi, and for good reason, imo.

[UTUSN]

9. "real" names don't need to be nowhere for crap to be OUT THERE!!1 n/t

[Spazito]

10. Ahhh, in other words, Corsi is nowhere to be found in the

article about an actual meeting that took place. Thanks for your .......response, very enlightening.

[hansberrym]

11. Do you mean real names such as Condi Rice?

I do not trust a damn thing that the bush administration says.

What they claim to be "fact" has far too often turned out to be horsehit, and outright lies. (WMDs, Plame outing, Iraq/Al Qaida link, etc, etc)


The promoters of NAFTA said the same things as the promoter of the SPP -one big lie was that NAFTA wouldn't undermine our nation's sovereignty. But then we found out that our courts no longer have the final say on cases involving foreign companies operating in the US.

[Rex]

7. So they want people to be distracted by something new.

What? Run out of ideas on how to get rid of populism? These people sound like NORTHCOM. :eyes:

[ensho]

12. when the dem. gov. of Arizona was on Wash. Journal this a.m.

she ignored a caller's question about the union of the 3 countries and the superhighway/Mex. drivers. just totally ignored the question and said 'our borders need secured'.

I've asked some of the dem campaign for pres. sites what the dem position on the above was and have received not one answer.

why are the Dem's in the house and senate avoiding talking about this? are they complicit?

(ensho formally donsu)