Amazing, have a look at this.
Note the following comment to another post:
Don Pomodoro
Whew…I really hope for you guys over there in Canada that the “North American Union” nightmare never comes to pass. I couldn’t see it happening now, but if the US were to fall apart in the next ten years it might view such a union as the only way to compete with the BRICs, Latin American Union, EU (if it still exists…:P), etc in 20 years’ time. They’re too full of themselves in the US currently to push it through or promote it at all.
NAFTA could be the back door to an NAU though. Remember, lots of eurosceptics (that is, mainly British politicians and the far right across Europe) point out that the EU was originally just an Economic Community – When the UK joined in the early 1970s, for example, they thought that they were just joining a free trade zone and not a political union.
Be on your guard over there!
How sad. Humanity is gradually losing its one guantor of human freedoms: Sovereignty and jurisdiction.
How long will it be before nation states become a thing of the past?
Bad idea.
Can’t tell you how many jeers I’ve gotten when I’ve expressed my deep concern about the NAU. My letters to the PM have, as always gone unanswered. Whose the worry wart now, huh? The negotiations have been going on behind closed doors and Harper doesn’t know the meaning of sovereignty — at least not Canadian sovereignty. Yeah sure they are taking baby steps but they are the steps of a baby giant. The elephant is rolling over the northern mouse’s tail while it sits and contemplates its own navel.
The worst idea is the first idea, ie “joint” cross-border security agencies with police powers. Inevitably there will be “mission-creep” (pun intended) and these agents will be given other powers and responsibilities. And once Canada has invited the guest into the house, the guest will decide if and when he will leave. And he now has command of the locks on both sides of the doors.
“”We said ‘Let’s take baby steps, let’s start with two agencies to test the concept, let’s demonstrate to Canadians and Americans that such an approach might work.” It’s a foregone conclusion that it will continue to prove to be necessary in the war on terror. And remember that this is a war with no defined endpoint.
This whole thing has creeped me out since we first heard of it. Anyone else worried about not paying FUBAR fines and having nowhere to go?
SOVEREIGNTY!
Do not permit US agents to throw their weight and authority around on the soil of your country (Canada or wherever you are). If your government allows this, it is grounds for a revolution, peaceful hopefully, but otherwise if peaceful does not work.
@Nobledreamer, most definitely. Once we let another country enforce law in our country, soon comes applying and then interpreting the law. Right now the IRS cannot collect on Canadian soil, CRA won’t collect from Canadians on behalf of them. We have zero guarantee that situation will remain the same. This is a scary precedent.
@all Brockers in Canada, this sort of announcement should trigger a picket demonstration.
related to this subject:
http://www.embassymag.ca/dailyupdate/view/watchdog_has_seen_draft_canadaus_perimeter_privacy_statement_05-27-2012
May, 28, 2012
‘Watchdog has seen draft Canada-US perimeter privacy statement’ Document ‘must be made public,’ says civil liberties association director.
By Carl Meyer
Published May 27, 2012 11:56 PM
…………”Federal and provincial privacy offices have raised several potential issues. For example, they want to see the use of satellites and aerial surveillance restricted under a regulatory framework. Embassy has revealed that the permanent maritime cross-border policing agreement in the Harper government’s budget implementation bill may include aerial police surveillance over land”
“The privacy offices also suggest that information be kept in Canada, or protected if it must be stored outside, and that review and redress mechanisms be put in place for information that is shared with the US.”…….
@outraged
I guess we will all have to learn how to change our names, have PO boxes for mailing addresses and live out in the boonies. 🙂
@badger
I wasn’t able to get the whole story via your link but the story is also here:
http://embamex.sre.gob.mx/canada/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5625:watchdog-has-seen-draft-canada-us-perimeter-privacy-statement-embassy-&catid=599:lunes-28-mayo-2012&Itemid=34
I find this disturbing, in light of Tim’s post “TD Waterhouse FATCA Privacy Waiver Form” – opening new accounts, identifying citizenship, etc:
“Julie Carmichael, acting communications director for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, would not offer details of the statement, although she wrote in an email that the government expects to complete the statement by the “spring.”
“The Government of Canada is committed to protecting the privacy of Canadians and to ensuring that information is shared responsibly and accurately with the appropriate safeguards,” she wrote.”
I get the feeling that we may not find our government as “protective” as we need them to be. :-/