USA Absorbs Canada in Secret Talks in Banff Alberta

Integration talks kept in the dark
The Calgary Herald
Thurs 21 Sep 2006
Page: A22
Byline: Maude Barlow

While the media were busy obsessing over rumours of a budding romance
between Condoleezza Rice and Peter MacKay last week, a more significant
relationship was developing behind closed doors.

Away from the spotlight, from Sept. 12 to 14, in Banff Springs, Minister of
Public Safety Stockwell Day and Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor met with
U.S. and Mexican government officials and business leaders to discuss North
American integration at the second North American Forum.

According to leaked documents, the guest list included such prominent
figures as U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Mexican Secretary of
Public Security Eduardo Medina Mora and Canadian Forces chief General Rick
Hillier, although we have no final confirmation of attendees.

The event was chaired by former U.S. secretary of state George Schultz,
former Alberta premier, Peter Lougheed and former Mexican finance minister
Pedro Aspe.

Despite the involvement of senior North American politicians, organizers did
not alert the media about the event. To make it worse, our government will
not be issuing a public statement and refuses to release any information
about the content of the discussions or the actors involved.

Day’s office has been telling journalists that it cannot comment on the
minister’s private meeting and that journalists should understand this. So
much for accountability.

The event was organized by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives - the
elite club of Canada’s richest CEOs - and the Canada West Foundation, an
Alberta think-tank that promotes, among other things, closer economic
integration with the United States.

The focus of the event was on North American security and prosperity. Not
surprisingly, this included topics such as "A North American Energy
Strategy," "Demographic and Social Dimensions of North American Integration"
and "Opportunities for Security Co- operation" - all topics where the public
interest is at odds with that of big business elites.

Unfortunately meetings like this are now commonplace.

Since Paul Martin, Vicente Fox and George W. Bush signed the Security and
Prosperity Partnership in March 2005, discussions on continental integration
have gone underground.

The media have paid little attention to this far-reaching agreement, so
Canadians are unaware that a dozen working groups are currently
"harmonizing" Canadian and U.S. regulations on everything from food to drugs
to the environment and even more contentious issues like foreign policy.

Make no mistake, this process of harmonization is not about improving food,
environmental and other norms; it is about priming North America for better
business by weakening the impacts of such perceived obstacles as
environmental standards and labour rights.

This is why the public has been kept in the dark while the business elite
has played a leading role in designing the blueprint for this more
integrated North America. In fact, they have been the driving force.

In June this year, their power was formalized when our governments created
the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), an advisory committee
comprised of representatives from the largest corporations in North America
including Wal-Mart, Chevron, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Suncor and
others.

Their goal is to make North America more competitive globally, which means
weakening our government’s ability to regulate industry, protect the
environment or our social safety net.

Lockheed Martin’s Ron Covais’s statement to Maclean’s magazine earlier this
month about the role of the NACC was quite revealing:

"The guidance from the ministers was, tell us what we need to do and we’ll
make it happen."

Sadly, we the public are not informed of what big businesses are telling our
ministers to do.

The NACC met in Washington on Aug. 15 to discuss its priorities, but we have
very little information about what was said as it was not reported anywhere
in the press.

For Canadians, developments on energy will be crucial.

The U.S. administration, anxious to keep up with its country’s high energy
demands, has shown great interest in this "secure" energy source located
just north of its border. With corporations like Suncor involved, energy was
an important item of discussion at the Banff meeting last week.

Given the detrimental impacts of oil sand extraction on our environment and
given that Canada currently exports 66 per cent of its oil (primarily to the
U.S.) while importing 55 per cent of what we use domestically from countries
like Algeria, Venezuela and Norway, it is alarming that Ottawa would discuss
a "North American Energy Strategy" with the U.S. and Mexico before
establishing a Canadian strategy that would ensure our ability to protect
the environment and ensure a secure energy supply for Canadians.

Though not as glamourous as the date between Peter and Condi, the media
should pay better attention to this marriage between our governments and big
corporations.

The Conservatives came to power on the promise to make government more
accountable. They need to be reminded that our government should be
accountable to the people of Canada - not just its business elite.

Maude Barlow is chairperson of the Council of Canadians and author of 15
books including Too Close for Comfort: Canada’s Future within Fortress North
America.
— -
Attendance list North American forum
Donald Rumsfeld, George Schultz among U.S. officials on roster

---

Posted: September 21, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

NORTH AMERICAN FORUM
CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS
(Internal Document, Not for Public Release)

Report dated August 31, 2006

Forum Co-Chairs:
Dr. Pedro Aspe
Hon. Peter Lougheed
Hon. George Shultz

Canadian Participants

Col. Peter Atkinson, Special Advisor to Chief of Defence Staff

Hon. Perrin Beatty, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters

Mr. Peter M. Boehm, Assistant Deputy Minister, North America, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada

Mr. Thomas d’Aquino, Canadian Council of Chief Executives

Hon. Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, Government of Canada

Dr. Wendy Dobson, The Institute for International Business

Mr. N. Murray Edwards, Edco Financial Holdings Ltd.

Mr. Ward Elcock, Deputy Minister of National Defence

Mr. Bill Elliott, Associate Deputy Minister, Public Safety

Dr. John English, The Cdn Centre for International Governance Innovation

Mr. Brian Felesky, Felesky Flynn LLP

Mr. Richard L. George, Suncor Energy Inc.

Dr. Roger Gibbins, Canada West Foundation

Rear Adm Roger Girouard, Commander Joint Task Force Pacific, Cdn Forces

Major Gen Daniel Gosselin, Director General, International Security Policy

Mr. James K. Gray, Canada West Foundation

Mr. Fred Green, Canadian Pacific Railway

Mr. V. Peter Harder, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Paul J. Hill, Harvard Developments Inc.

General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff

Mr. Pierre Marc Johnston, Heenan Blaikie

Mr. James Kinnear, Pengrowth Corporation

Mr. Harold N. Kvisle, TransCanada Corporation

Hon. John P. Manley, McCarthy Tetrault LLP

Mr. Ron Mannix, Coril Holdings Ltd.

Mr. Ron Mathison, Matco Investments

Hon. Anne McLellan, Senior Counsel, Bennett Jones

Hon. Greg Melchin, Minister of Energy, Government of Alberta

Ms.Sharon Murphy, Chevron Canada

Ms. Sheila O’Brien, President, Corporate Director, Belvedere Investments

Hon. Gordon O’Connor, Minister of Defense, Government of Canada

Mr. Berel Rodal, International Center on Nonviolent Conflict

Mr. Gordon Smith, Chairman, The International Development Research Centre
American Participants

Ms. Deborah Bolton, Political Advisor to Commander, US Northcom

Mr. Ron T. Covais, President, The Americas, Lockheed Martin Corporation

Sec. Kenneth W. Dam, Max Pam Professor Emeritus of American & Foreign Law and Senior Lecturer, University of Chicago Law School

Mr. Dan Fisk, Senior Director, Western Hemisphere, National Security Council

Sec. Ryan Henry, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Ms. Carla A. Hills, Chairman & CEO, Hills & Co.

Ms. Caryn Hollis, DASD (Acting) Western Hemisphere Affairs

Mr. Bill Irwin , Manager - International Government Affairs; Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron Corporation

Mr. Robert G. James, President, Enterprise Asset Management Inc.

Admiral Tim Keating, Commander, US Northern Command

Mr. Floyd Kvamme, Chair, President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology; Director, Centre for Global Security Res.

Dr. Ronald F. Lehman II , Director, Center for Global Security Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Mr. William W. McIlhenny, Policy Planning Council for Western Hemisphere Affairs

Dr. Peter McPherson , President, National Association of State Universities & Land-Grant Colleges

Ms. Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow, Migration Policy Institute

Dr. George Miller, Director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Mr. George Nethercutt, Chairman, US Section of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense, US - Canada (Security)

Mary Anastasia O’Grady, Journalist for Wall Street Journal (Area Specialist)

Dr. Robert A. Pastor, Director, Center for North American Studies, American University, Washington, DC

Dr. William Perry, Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project

Lt. Gen. Gene Renuart, USAF Senior Military Assist. to Sec. Rumsfeld

Mr. Eric Ruff, , Department of Defense Press Secretary

Sec. Donald R. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, US Department of Defense

Dr. James Schlesinger, Former Sec. Of Energy & Defense

Mr. William Schneider, President, International Planning Services

Sec. Clay Sell, Deputy Secretary of Energy, US Dept. of Energy

Dr. Thomas A. Shannon, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs

Dr. David G. Victor, Director, Program on Energy & Sustainable Development, Center for Environmental Science & Policy

Maj. Gen. Mark A Volcheff, Director, Plans, Policy & Strategy, NORAD-NORTHCOM

Ms. Jane Wales, President & CEO, World Affairs Council of Northern California

Mr. R. James Woolsey, Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton
Mexican Participants:

Emb Andrés Rozental, (Mexican Coordinator) - Mexican Council on Foreign Relations

Silvia Hernández , Former Senator and Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on North America

Mario Molina , , 1995 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Fernando Chico Pardo , CEO, Promecap

Juan Gallardo , , CEO, Grupo GEUSA

Gerónimo Gutiérrez , Deputy Foreign Minister for North America

Luis de la Calle , Consultant. Former Deputy Minister of Economy

Agustín Barrios Gómez , Solutions Abroad

Vinicio Suro, , PEMEX

Eduardo Medina Mora , Secretary of Public Security

Carlos Heredia , State Government of Michoacán

Jaime Zabludowsky , Consultant. Former trade negotiator

Manuel Arango , CEO, Grupo Concord

Jorge Santibañez , President, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte

Luis Rubio, CIDAC

Mónica Serrano , El Colegio de México, Señor Fellow Oxford University

Arturo Sarukhan, Coordinator of Int’l Affairs, Campaign of Felipe Calderon

Juan Camilo Mouriño, General Coordinator of President Elect’s transition team

Ernesto Cordero, Coordinator for Public Policy Issues Ambassadors/Consul General

Mr. Carlos de Icaza, , Ambassador of Mexico to the United States

Mr. Gaëtan Lavertu, Ambassador of Canada to Mexico

Ms. Maria Teresa Garcia Segovia de Madero, Ambassador of Mexico to Canada

Mr. Thomas Huffaker, U.S. Consul General in Calgary (on DOD’s list)

Mr. John Dickson, Deputy Chief of Mission, US Embassy in Ottawa, (representing Ambassador of US to Canada)

Mr. Colin Robertson, Minister & Head, Washington Advocacy Secretariat, (representing Ambassador of Canada to US)

Council of Canadians - A Citizen’s Guide to Fighting Deep Integration

Welcome to the North American Union!

Canada’s media elites covers up U.S. take-over of Canadian military
Traitors among us cover-up the Continental assimilation of Military Command Structures as a Threat to Canada’s Sovereignty
by Michel Chossudovsky
The issue of continental integration of military command structures has been on the US-Canada agenda since April 2002. This issue has been has substantively covered-up by the elites who now own Canada’s mass-media.
Territorial control over Canada is part of Washington’s geopolitical and military agenda as formulated in April 2002 by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "Binational integration" of military command structures is also contemplated alongside a major revamping in the areas of immigration, law enforcement and intelligence.
Since 2002, Ottawa has been quietly negotiating a far-reaching military cooperation agreement. In November 2004, Global Research published a detailed article on the subject, an abridged version of which was accepted for publication as an Op Ed piece in the Toronto Star. That article never appeared in print. More generally, the Canadian media has failed to provide coverage of an issue which strikes at the heart of Canada’s territorial sovereignty.
What the current news coverage fails to acknowledge is that the US Military can cross the border and deploy troops anywhere in Canada, in our provinces, as well station American warships in Canadian territorial waters. This redesign of Canada’s defense system has for the last four years been discussed behind closed doors, not in Canada, but at the Peterson Air Force base in Colorado, at the headquarters of US Northern Command (NORTHCOM).
The creation of NORTHCOM announced in April 2002, constitutes a blatant violation of both Canadian and Mexican territorial sovereignty. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced unilaterally that US Northern Command would have jurisdiction over the entire North American region. Canada and Mexico were presented with a fait accompli. US Northern Command’s jurisdiction as outlined by the US DoD includes, in addition to the continental US, all of Canada, Mexico, as well as portions of the Caribbean, contiguous waters in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans up to 500 miles off the Mexican, US and Canadian coastlines as well as the Canadian Arctic.
NORTHCOM’s stated mandate according to the Canadian American Strategic Review (CASR) is to "provide a necessary focus for [continental] aerospace, land and sea defenses, and critical support for [the] nation’s civil authorities in times of national need."
Rumsfeld is said to have boasted that "the NORTHCOM - with all of North America as its geographic command - ’is part of the greatest transformation of the Unified Command Plan [UCP] since its inception in 1947.’" (Ibid)
In my "censored" Toronto Star article, I had warned that the process of Bi-National Integration implying the integration of military command structures was slated to be completed in May 2006:
"What we are dealing with is a "military marriage’ characterized by the integration of the two countries’ command structures.
Missile Defense is part of "the vows" of this "military marriage", something which nobody in Canada wants to talk about.
This U.S military take-over has certain underlying obligations and commitments.
If Canada accepts to join NORTHCOM and integrate U.S. command structures, it not only "promises to cherish" Star Wars, it also becomes an official member of a crypto-fascistic Anglo-American military axis, integrated by Israel (unofficially) and Australia.
Canada thereby becomes a pro-active partner in America’s on-going crypto-fascistic military adventures, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iran, North Korea and beyond, not to mention the preemptive use of nuclear weapons in conventional war theaters directed "against rogue enemies and terrorists".
Shortly prior to the Bush-Martin meetings in Ottawa in November 2004, it was decided to extend the Binational Planning Group arrangement until May 2006. In other words, what is really at stake is the process leading up to a formal announcement of Canada’s accession to NORTHCOM, prior to the May 2006 cut-off date." (emphasis added, For the comnplete article click here)
Canada’s accession to NORTHCOM is being formally implemented under the mandate of the Prime Minister Harper government.
Make comments about this article in The Canadian Blog.
About the author:
Michel Chossudovsky is the author of the international best America’s "War on Terrorism". He is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization.

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