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The Implications and Consequences of Canada-US Integration Date Recorded: Nov 9th, 2005
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Topic Background |
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| Following the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in 2001, US national priorities shifted, placing security concerns at the top of Washington’s agenda. This has dramatically changed the terms of US-Canada relations. Since this time, the Canadian government has engaged with Washington on a number of policy agendas including immigration, refugees, civil rights, illegal drugs and defense, which are said to focus on border security and the free flow of cross-border trade, but have broader social and economic implications. Deep Integration has been the term used to reflect this plan currently underway by Canadian, American and Mexican elites to create and maintain common policies that will further integrate our countries’ economies.
While there is still intense controversy among Canadians over the prospect of stronger Canada-US ties, the business lobby (specifically the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, which represents the country’s top-grossing companies) continues to advocate for an aggressive, “deeper” phase of integration. Proposals have taken various forms including a customs union, deeper energy and defense integration, security perimeters, and regulatory harmonization. These proposals contend that closer commercial relations with the United States will bring widespread economic benefits, and will not lead to the “Americanisation of Canada”. Maude Barlowe disagrees. |
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Speaker Biography |
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| Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest citizen’s advocacy organisationand author, most recently, of Too Close for Comfort, Canada’s Future within Fortress North America. She is founder of the Blue Planet Project, which works to stop commodification of the world’s water, and is a Director with the International Forum on Globalization, a San Francisco based research and education institution opposed to economic globalization. She most recently won Sweden’s Right Livelihood Award for her “exemplary and long-standing worldwide work for trade justice and the recognition of the fundamental human right to water.” She currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario.
For more information about Maude Barlow visit www.canadians.org |
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