Thread: NAU Meeting in Canada

Quote:
But after a full day of closed-door meetings

Jean wrote:

This is what concerns me, the secrecy.

Yes, at least the media are finally talking about it other than just Lou Dobbs.

Me too Jean, IMO Bush has decided is best if we do not know what he has planned for our country until it is TOO late. Thank God more and more media is talking about it!

Zero press in Los Angeles Times. We had a HUGE front page story about light bulbs!

I'm beginning to think that either the Canadian people are snoozing more than the American people or their news is censored, because we've heard so little verbal protest regrading the NAU from them.

I do not think that they get it. I was speaking to several people from Canada last week and I brought it up. They knew nothing about it.
When I told them a little bit about it, they smiled and said...."Oh good, well that will be good." I don't know whether or not they were just trying to be polite, and maybe when they left they said to themsleves, "Wow, this stinks!! We're going to lose our Canadian sovereignty under this thing!!"

If their reaction in front of me was sincere, and if their reaction is an indication of the majority of Canadians.....they're deep in denial about the reality of all of this. I admit I was not able to get into too many specifics.....let's hope their reaction was because I did not fully enlighten them.....and more or less just got the term NAU going in their minds.

I hope their fellow Canadians who have a full understanding of the ramifications and the effects the NAU will have, will wake their fellow countrymen up. We need for the people of Canada to be fully alert and informed.

Unless, they've become so watered down up there through massive immigration that their concern for their country and pride in their country is a thing of the past, I would expect that many Canadians are going to be extremely concerned about the NAU.

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P.S. I'm not trying to put the Canadian people down or insinuate that they are stupid and don't "get it", but it does concern me that just as in the U.S. massive immigration has watered down a strong understanding of what is really going on, as well as the understanding that we, the people, are responsible for watching out for our countries and maintaining the sovereignty of our own countries and protecting our freedom.

There are many people who come to Canada and the U.S. who are simply too afraid to speak out because of the situations they are coming from, or too busy getting settled in, or who just don't know enough about our history to understand that this freedom we have can be lost, and that the U.S. could become as bad or worse than what they left.

And, another thing, if that were to happen, many people figure that they will just "go home to their country". How many times have we heard that? Well, for an American who is already "home", there is no place to run. We are there. We are home. This is all that we have. We do not have any second options.

http://www.guelphmercury.com/NASApp/cs/ ... 0421501473

Linamar's head pushes for more efficient borders

LAURA THOMPSON


GUELPH (Feb 24, 2007)

Linda Hasenfratz was in Ottawa yesterday to address leaders from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico on how to strengthen North American competitiveness in global markets.

As the Canadian co-chair of the North American Competitiveness Council, Hasenfratz walked officials from the three countries through a report of more than 50 recommendations focused on improving border crossings, regulatory co-operation and energy supply and distribution.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were among the nine senior cabinet ministers and secretaries Hasenfratz addressed during daylong talks of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. The delegation was launched in 2005 to improve safety, business and living conditions across North America.

Last March, the partnership formed the competitiveness council to gain greater input from the private sector. Yesterday, the council reported back to MacKay, Rice, and their Mexican counterpart, Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa.

Hasenfratz, CEO of local auto parts maker Linamar Corp., is the chair of the council's Canadian arm.

Since June, 10 business leaders from each of the three countries have gathered input from hundreds of companies, sector associations and local chambers of commerce.

The outcome was the report, which recommends actions to be accomplished between 2008 and 2010 in three sectors -- food and agriculture, financial services and transportation.

Hasenfratz briefed the ministers yesterday on the recommendations, including the border-crossing issue -- a specific concern for the automotive industry.

"Our recommendation to immediately fix the infrastructure issues at the Windsor-Detroit crossing would be very beneficial to the auto industry, but also help the thousands of other trucks crossing back and forth at that point," Hasenfratz said in an e-mail yesterday.

The report recommends moving customs stations inland and further away from the actual border crossings.

The council also recommended simplifying customs documents and moving to a common, electronic document to cut time and costs at the border, Hasenfratz said.

"Strengthening (North American) competitiveness is critical to the auto industry -- and all industries -- as it allows us to win more business, grow, fund (research and development) to innovate and win more business to fuel more growth and therefore create jobs, which creates prosperity for all of us," Hasenfratz wrote.

But the competitiveness council has drawn a lot of criticism over its failure to gather public input. The Security and Prosperity Partnership currently has no formal mechanism for consulting the public at large.

"That type of thing happens in different venues in a host of other occasions, and we're pleased to note that as we work together on the issues we discussed today then the quality of life of all our citizens improves," Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told reporters after yesterday's talks.

Ministers discussed issues including 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.

The issue of public consultation was identified during their meetings. In the final statement released by the ministers, they said they discussed the "importance of transparency and communication with stakeholders and the public."

NDP Leader Jack Layton raised the issue during yesterday's question period in the Commons.

"The fact is, these discussions are worrisome to all Canadians. They have been incredibly secret from the get-go and there has been no public input," Layton said.

The competitiveness council rejected the criticism as misguided, saying there was nothing secretive about their work or that of the partnership.

Tom D'Aquino of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives said there hasn't been public input because most people aren't clued into the issues.

Jean-Yves LeFort, a trade campaigner for the Council of Canadians, said major stakeholders have been left out of the discussions.

"If you're talking about competitiveness -- labour groups should be consulted," he said, adding environmental groups should also have a place at the table. "For (the competitiveness council), it's only a market issue."

lthompson@guelphmercury.com With files from Canadian Press

I meet Canadians when I am at work.
When the opportunity arises, I mention this
to them. Their MSM does NOT publish anything
about the NAU either. They are as clueless as
most Americans.

Tom D'Aquino of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives said there hasn't been public input because most people aren't clued into the issues.

I think that as little as the American people are "clued in" , they are more "clued in" than the Canadian people. Maybe it is because Canada is more socialized than the U.S., that the Canadian people may not find the NAU as disturbing as Americans will and do find it.

http://www.stopthenau.org/Downloads_Fil ... meline.pdf

A time line of whats going on.

Some critics believe the Bush administration has put too great an emphasis on border security and not enough on the economic alliance. A Mexican journalist told Rice that this was the growing perception in his country, to which she disagreed

That is quite possibly the funniest statement I've ever read.