Archive for October, 2008

The Metamorphosis and Sabotage of Canada by our own Government Part 3

Part 3:

Connect the dots. Year 2010 is the target date of the Canada/US/Mexico task force’s planned North American Union. Year 2010 is the year by which Canada will have had a $54.5 billion total surplus over 5-6 years. How is that “surplus” to be used? Not to restore the social programs that our government pillaged to create the surplus. It will be used to pay for the “architecture” of the “paradigm” for cooperation, i.e. the North American Union, or as they call it, the NAISP, The North America Initiative for Security and Prosperity.

What is the effect of all the bad law outlined in part 2 of this article?

It is the end of a nation. It is the end of decisions by us over ourselves. It is a reduction of our standard of living: a decline of the middle class, an increase in poverty, homelessness, and destruction of our social safety net. It is the militarization of the country. It is the creation of a police state.

How can this be? How can our government enter into these arrangements?  Who exactly is doing it? Parliament? Caucus? The PMO? We must embark on a massive campaign demanding every MP reveal his/her role in this treason. We must make each one of these agreements and arrangements an election issue. The Canadian Action party has already started its campaign to do so.

So how is it possible that our national status has come to this sorry state.

Let’s consider the practice of government in this country. Canada has long suffered from an undemocratic form of government. Our Prime Ministers and their bureaucrat mandarins have always applied the defunct Prerogative Right of Kings’ principle  to the exercise of their power, and gotten away with it.  The Prerogative Right is the notion that not only do the Prime Minister and his officials know best, and what is right and good for all of us, but they have a God given right to impose it on us.

How does this work in practice?  As Paul Hellyer, CAP’s founding

How does this work in practice?  As Paul Hellyer, CAP’s founding former leader, explained to an inquiring member of the public in letter dated March 9, 1998: “The decisions are not actually made in Caucus. In most cases, they begin with the bureaucracy, although a few policies actually originate in the Prime Minister’s Office or in Cabinet. But these are the exceptions. Unfortunately, the parliamentary system is just used to propagate the ideas presented by the bureaucracy to parliament and to put them into force.”

That was the case with the FTA and NAFTA.  The MPs did not read the agreements. They just accepted the lies of the bureaucrats and signed. Paul Hellyer spent his life as an elected MP.  He knows how the system works.  And he admits that he, like all the others, did not read the FTA and NAFTA before ratifying them.

Why has this practice prevailed? It has because no party has actively exposed it, nor actively challenged it (except perhaps the original Reform Party).

What is so awful is the extent of the CEO’s arrogant expectation of success in the realization of their goal. Where is the outrage by MPs? By other parties? By media?  Why the acquiescence?  Those CEOs and military strategists are aided and abetted by all those Members of Parliament who are more than willing to delegate power and influence to these un-elected, unaccountable bodies.

Staring us in the eye are the powerful global forces who are successfully controlling and directing our very own governments against us. They are turning three nations into an undemocratic continental force for two purposes: 1. Externally-militarize us for their economic world conquest; and, 2. Internally- creates a police state to stifle dissent and prevent rebellion as they take everything away from us.

How Dare They!
What has become the smokescreen justification for this treason? Terrorism. What is the real reason? Greed and money. If it was only a few individuals in power, not our full government sanctioning the betrayal, a charge of treason could be laid. But because the highest order of our government is facilitating it, it is not treason. It is not treason because the perpetrators say it is not.  There is no one in charge with the will or power to face the betrayal and call it for what it is. Only the losers in a battle are prosecuted.

For far too long in Canada, bureaucrats and politicians under the undue influence of industry have been betraying all of us. Bureaucrats move easily between government and industry fulfilling the demands and interests of corporations above that of the common good of the state and its people. The concept of the public interest, or the common good, or the commons no longer exists in the bureaucracy, where once it was well defined and understood and applied.

Following WW2, despite an interlude of attention to the public good and the public interest and to world peace, the greedy exploitive agenda of the financial/ industrial/ military leaders of most of the world continued to lurk behind the scenes. They never really went away. They just laid low and bided their time.

Meanwhile, the Western world developed a burgeoning comfortable middle class as the leaders realized they had to create systems that appeased the sacrifices made by the people on the Front and at home. In Canada we developed a successful mixed economy blending the private and the public participation in our economy. The private system was left to do what they could do well, but it was recognized that some things they could not do if the needs of all the people were to be met, like housing the vets, like Medicare and hospitalization.

Eventually as peace prevailed, life got better for more and more of us. We relaxed our guard. We relaxed our vigilance over our liberty. We took it for granted. We trusted our politicians. Meanwhile, the greedy ones, smouldering in the background, re-ignited. They made their move by promoting globalization thereby cementing an arena for their use and benefit at the expense of the rest of us. Our politicians have been dupes at best, conspirators at worst. Programs, regulations, practices and procedures that made life good for the rest of us, protected our well-being and nourished us, interfered with their greed. And so, they moved- first by deception and stealth, and now in open arrogance to take away our benefits and enjoyment of a share of the world’s resources. The principle is no different than it ever was under kings and mighty rulers–A few powerful taking the resources of the world for themselves by war and/or trickery and theft.

n post WW2 Canada developed some of the most successful public programs paid for in large measure by the use in our economy of our own Bank of Canada. Our successful safety net came to life making things pretty good for most of us. Hospitalization, Medicare, public housing, public education, publicly controlled energy utilities, and transportation are good examples. And we created our own public bank, the Bank of Canada, which reigned over the hiatus of the good life enjoyed by Canadians. It was the use of that bank that enabled Canadians to be creating a very good place to live, free from the enslavement of crippling debt. We could afford the good life then, and we can afford it now.

We no longer have MPs or bureaucrats with the will to act to protect and maintain a “prosperous and secure” life for the people of Canada. They plan to focus to make our territory more “prosperous and secure” for the corporate return on the resources that belong to all Canadians. Worse, they are no longer interested in a sovereign democratic Canada. They are busy creating a North American Union.  We have to expose this.

Our federal government has racked up enormous surpluses by slashing funding to people programs. They continue to lie to us pretending there is insufficient money to fund our needs. In the week of November 15,2005 the Liberals announced they had $10.2 billion to $12.5 billion of surplus money for the year 2005. In the year 2010 they expect to have $18.5 billion surplus. For the 6-year period between 2005 and 2010-11 they will have had a $54.5 billion total surplus.  (Source: Globe and Mail, November 15, 2005).

The Globe and Mail referred to the Liberal budget plan released November 15, 2005. The Globe and Mail wrote: The Liberals also unveiled a multi-year plan for growth and prosperity that’s meant to serve as a blueprint for improving Canada’s competitiveness in light of what Mr. Goodale calls “the profound reordering of the global economy as new giants such as India and China emerge”.

Note the language congruence between the Liberal “multi-year” “blueprint” for “growth and prosperity” and the language within the various reports and agreements and plans and laws to which I referred in part 2 of the series of articles.

The June 2005 ‘Report of the Ministers to the Leaders’ referred to their task of creating an “architecture” to effect the goals of the Leaders. The goals of the Leaders (Fox, Martin, Bush) were set out in their “Security and Prosperity Partnership Agreement” signed March 2005.

On the website of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) there is a report by them of their work through 2003-2004. The report is dated April 2004 but was posted  November 2, 2005 under “News and Information” under a section called “North American Security and Prosperity”. It is called New Frontiers. Building a 21st century Canada- United States Partnership in North America, April 2004.

In the preface of that report Thomas P. d’Aquino, President, and Chief Executive, along with Richard L. George, Chairman, write, “While the Council’s fundamental vision for North America remains trilateral, we believe that to be most effective in addressing some of the key challenges facing our continent today. Canada and the United States must take the lead in developing a new ‘paradigm’ for cooperation, one that will increase the security of our respective citizens and maximize the ability of our countries to prosper in a world marked by increasingly intense competition among developed and developing countries.”

In the introduction of the report, the CCCE references the competition growing from China and India, which the Liberal 2005 election blueprint mimics.  The CCCE wrote at page 2, “As emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil move up the development curve, they are growing in importance both as customers and as fierce competitors in the service s well as manufacturing sectors.”

So, where will our money go that we do, in fact, have? First and foremost it will go to create the architecture of the new regime e.g. construction of different border facilities, transportation and security facilities in airports, highway, and ferry systems. Read back through part 2 of my article and you will realize the areas of expenditure to facilitate the goals. Match the words in those agreements to the words of the Liberal campaign “blueprint”.

Further, out of that burgeoning surplus our government will continue to bailout and further enrich the banks by paying more and more money over to the endless unnecessary growing debt arising out of the failure to use our Bank of Canada.  The Liberals and Conservatives plan to give massive tax breaks to corporations. They will spend on the arms industry as Canada joins the US military machine.

None of this is what Canadians really want. But we are not asked. And those who complain are ignored. There is something very wrong with this picture.

The CCCE blueprint demands more deregulation and privatization. The “40 point Smart Regulations Plan” announced by our government March 2005 accommodates that demand. See Part 2 of my series of articles on this sabotage of Canada. The lie is that deregulation and privatization will be good for all of us, a betterment of the economy. In fact, they are the stripping off of all the protections for the safety and health of consumers. The legal and fiduciary duty of a private corporation, its first priority, is to use its investment to make a profit for its shareholders. The US has just recently passed a law that removes the liability of pharmaceutical companies for any harm to consumers caused by the mandatory vaccinations the US is planning. Canada will follow suit. How much more Draconian can they get?

George Galloway, a British Member of Parliament talked about the privatization of their railroads in an interview by Thom Hartmann , May 26, 2005 on Air America, AM620 KPOJ in Portland Oregon. Galloway said this: “British Rail, which was owned by the state, which was a nationalized railway, was probably the least loved institution in the United Kingdom when Mrs. Thatcher privatized it. Now, fully 80%, of the people of the country (80, eight zero percent of the people of the country) want the railway taken back into public ownership, because they realize now that we’re paying three times the subsidy to the private owners of the privatized railways that we were paying to the nationalized railways, and we’ve got a dirtier, more dangerous, and more expensive service as a result. It takes longer now to go from London to Birmingham on the train than it does to go from where I’m sitting in the House of Commons to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and it’s only 110 miles from London to Birmingham. We’ve had a whole series of railway disasters caused by people cutting corners to save costs, to make more profits. We’ve had delays that would make your hair stand on end; people in the depths of winter being delayed 5, 7 hours on railway journeys, and we have rolling stock which has not improved since the public sector days. All that’s happening is that we’re giving state subsidies to private owners who are putting it in their pockets.”

Privatization of any universal public needs is the vehicle for the theft of our power and control over our selves and our resources, and hence the theft of our personal and political survival.  In this country, the cheap sell-off and /or actual demolition of fully functional hospitals to and for private operations is an example of the most outrageous abuse of the public trust. As is the give-away of our hydro and gas utilities. Those who perpetrate this kind of betrayal of the public interest should be treated and punished as the criminals they are. It is no excuse to change the laws to permit it and then say it is legal. It is still immoral, wrong and harmful to society.

But the situation is getting much worse. The global regime run by a cabal of financial/military/industrialists has no borders. It needs to be able to move around the world for its maximum profit and to avoid any countries that deign to hold them accountable. It has had a great run

n the third world countries, but now wants control over the economies of the developed world by way of the trade agreements.

There is jockeying of control of areas of the world. There is the European Union power block. India/China/Russia is another emerging block. The point of the US aggression in the Middle East is to keep that rich area out of the Asian Russian block. There has to be another big block to enhance the power of the North American industrialist elite:- North American Union- NAU?( NAISP)

However, there are cracks in the globalizers success because people are not stupid. In the last 10 years the anti-globalization movement of citizens has been fighting back exposing the lies and hypocrisy and greed. They created a massive peaceful resistance movement using the tool of the Internet, and exercising their democratic rights of dissent, peaceful assembly, and freedom of movement. (This is why the US has passed a law recently that spies on internet users and gives police powers to restrict their use. Canada is following suit with a similar bill before our House of Commons.)

Citizens rushed easily to the locations of the international meetings to confront the globalizers. Politicians of the hosting countries erected barriers to separate the voice of the citizen protestors from the ears and eyes of the globalizers.  The citizens became a real nuisance. In the EU they were responsible for disseminating sufficient information to defeat the EU constitution.

It was the worldwide citizens’ movement that killed the Multilateral Agreement on Investments (MAI). It was the French politicians who finally read the stuff and agreed with the citizens and ended up being the deciding world voice that stopped the MAI in its tracks in October of 1998. In the summer of 2005, it was public pressure and an education process from the citizens’ movements in France and Holland who influenced those people to vote NO on the European constitution. The other EU countries were not given the vote on the issue. Their political leaders listened to the bureaucrats, did not read, and signed. From the public interest point of view, that agreement was another economically crippling, liberty stripping and sovereignty killing arrangement.

Even though two world wars provided horrific lessons, people do not learn well from history. Too often we do not even know our history. As time passed it became easier and easier for the greedy ones to weasel their way back into the mind-set of too many politicians who have forgotten or never knew their history. Like the gambling industry that can out-wait the citizen movements who successfully oppose the gambling expansion for so long as the citizen movements can survive, at the global level, the cabal of financial /military /industrialists have waited out the global citizens movement of opposition and resistance. But, the cabal is not having an easy win. They are determined to seal the cracks and to eliminate the opposition.  What is their new tool? Anti-terrorism. Who is their facilitator? Our own government.

The answer to the irritating swarm of citizen mosquitoes is real barriers! Laws that would really prevent dissent. Laws that would stifle the capacity to stop the train. The globalists have resurrected an old bogeyman-fear, and his companion, security. Our government via its bureaucracy tells us the bad guys are around the corner or under the bed and are coming to get us.  They tell us the only way to be safe from this threat is to strip ourselves naked, point the finger at the brown skin, stop talking to each other, and submit to leashes.

The recent rapidly produced anti-terrorism laws have removed centuries-long legal rights and protections under the guise of security. These laws are nothing more than tools to enforce the globalist agenda. Let us be very clear about this. They are creating a police state. The tragedy of 9/11 was exploited to deliver suppression of the constitutional rights of citizens. The US moved first with its Patriot Act and Homeland Security Act. England, Australia and Canada followed quickly. Our politicians are hard at work with a complicit media to convince us we need to give up our liberties just as the citizens of the US have been forced to do.

The laws, the plans, agreements and arrangements implement a regime that is unconstitutional, undemocratic, and despotic; a process that consigns centuries of justice and civil and human rights to the trashcan.

We must embark on a massive campaign demanding every MP reveal his/her role in this treason. We must make each one of these agreements and arrangements an election issue.

And what is CAP going to do about it?  We are going to mount the best campaign possible in the upcoming federal election. We are going to do our best to run candidates in every riding – committed informed candidates who see the writing on the wall, who care, and who will mount the barricades.

A public policy forum group operating out of Ottawa interviewed me in September 2005. The interviewer informed me they had recently learned from their polling of Canadians that 3 out of 5 Canadians WANT MORE SAY IN HOW THE COUNTRY RUNS. Big surprise, eh?

Our challenge is to be able to communicate that CAP is a real alternative, a vehicle saved for the people to use to assert and govern ourselves.

Of interest is that the North American Union plan has no reference to any electoral government. They do not need or want a democratic government. The North American Union is not to be a system of, by, and for the people.

By the same token, for the people of Canada, United States and Mexico, the political parties currently function as patsies for the Chief Executive Officers of the NAISP. The MPs are irrelevant for our needs UNLESS we take back control of our nations.

We need Parliamentary reform, electoral reform, and inner party reform to give the people democracy. In Canada, The Canadian Action Party/parti action Canadienne is a legitimate vehicle. It remains viable to be used by citizens if they choose. A full slate of principled Canadian patriot candidates would have an impact.  It is the only democratic route. We have a real Canadian alternative party —-CAP/PAC

WE ARE CANADIAN!

Constance (Connie) Fogal (born 1940) is a long-time activist lawyer, and leader of the Canadian Action Party / parti action Canadienne. A lawyer and former teacher, Fogal lives in Vancouver where her late husband Harry Rankin was a long time progressive city councillor. She is an anti-globalization activist and was an opponent of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and the North American Free Trade Agreement. She has also been active with the “Canadian Liberty Committee”.

The Metamorphosis and Sabotage of Canada by our own Government Part 2

Part 2:
Let us start by looking at some of the other incredible arrangements our government has made, all of which throw away our sovereignty, independence, and our civil liberties.

  1. 1. The Canada -U.S. Smart Border Declaration with a 30 point action plan signed Dec 12,2001
  2. 2. The Public Safety Act, 2002 with despotic powers to certain Cabinet Ministers
  3. 3. The Anti Terrorism Act currently under review
  4. 4.The North American Security and Prosperity Initiative (NASPI)- a report released January 2003 of the project of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) to develop a strategy for shaping Canada’s future within North America and beyond.
  5. 5. The Security and Prosperity Partnership Agreement signed by Bush and Martin in March of 2005
  6. 6. 40 Point Smart Regulation Action Plan
  7. 7. The Report of Ministers to the Leaders -SPP- North America June 2005

1. The Canada – U.S. Smart Border Declaration signed Dec 12,2001. Note John Manley signed this when he was deputy Prime Minister along with Tom Ridge, US Homeland Security Director. Manley is now the head of the North American Union Task Force promoting the end of the nations of Canada, USA, and Mexico, as we know them.

The Canada-U.S. Smart Border Declaration has everything to do with total integration of Canada into the USA dominated system and control, with total loss of Canadian sovereignty and independence. Our government through one Cabinet Minister and his officials committed Canadians to arrangements, which had not been discussed in Parliament, nor presented to the Canadians at large. It is treasonous to be making, in effect, fundamental changes to our constitutional structure without taking this to the citizens.

The arrangements are after the fact being rammed through Parliament piecemeal without any Member of Parliament making a fuss about the fact of the pre-arranged agreement between Manley and Ridge, nor demanding that Canadians should have a say in this. No Member of Parliament was elected on any platform to create or enter a North American Union, which this Smart Border Declaration is doing. The tragedy for Canadians is that we appear to have no MP’s, nor party with representatives elected to the House of Common who is prepared to fight for Canadians, or even to inform us. In effect, there is no opposition in government. The opposition to this are those of us outside of government. This should not have to be!

This declaration outlines a set of initiatives called the 30-point Action Plan. The Canada Customs and Revenue agency is working collaboratively with the United States Customs Service, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The CCRA has the lead responsibility for eight of the initiatives outlined in the 30 Point Action Plan. Making those eight happen is the priority for CCRA.

The eight are:

  1. A Single Alternative Inspection System
  2. Air Pre-clearance
  3. Advance Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record
  4. Ferry Terminal Reviews
  5. Harmonized Commercial Processing
  6. Clearance Away from the Border
  7. Customs Data Exchange
  8. In-Transit Container Targeting at Seaports

The 30 points are:

1) Biometric Identifiers – Jointly develop on an urgent basis common biometric identifiers in documentation such as (this means in other ways too) permanent resident cards, NEXUS, and other travel documents. (That means DNA markers, retinal captures and fingerprints) (CBC recently reported that this month our Government will present to Parliament a bill that will permit “chips” being placed in our passports. The chips will hold untold amounts of personal data, even possibly to the amount of money you have in your bank account. This chip can be accessed and read by any one or place that has the existing technology. It has been reported to me that the Mohawk Indians have been approached by our government to volunteer to being “chipped” and to have DNA records of them created for tracking. Chips are microscopic devices that can be implanted in your skin as easily as on a card. This is no longer science fiction folks, it is happening.)

2) Permanent Resident Cards- a secure card that includes a biometric identifier. (It is the impending legislation that will require all citizens to be fingerprinted and eye printed, and to have all their personal data encrypted on a national card- even human chip implants to track your location and activity. Many cell phones already do that. Some clothing manufacturers, and I am told Wal-Mart is one, already have microscopic tracking chips that remain in the clothes after you leave the store with your purchase. If someone wanted to, they could track you if you wear Wal-Mart clothing. Who has sanctioned that?

3) Single Alternative Inspection System- Resume NEXUS for two-way movement of pre-approved travellers at Sarnia-Port Huron, and expand a single program to other areas along the land border. Discuss expansion to air travel.

4) Refugee/Asylum Processing-Review practices and procedures to ensure that applicants are thoroughly screened for security risks and take necessary steps to share information on refugee and asylum claimants.

5) Managing of Refugee/Asylum Claims- Negotiate a safe third-country agreement to enhance the managing of refugee claims. (Officials of Canada and the United States signed the Safe Third Country Agreement on December 5, 2002. The agreement allows both countries to manage the flow of refugee claimants. No longer does Canada make its own decisions based on our sovereign principles.) Did you hear any fuss being made by anyone in Parliament about this destruction of our sovereign capacity? Or by the media?

6) Visa Policy Coordination- joint respective visa waiver lists and share look-out lists at visa issuing offices.

7) Air Pre-clearance- implement the Pre-clearance Agreement signed in January 2001. Resume in transit pre-clearance at Vancouver and expand to other airports per Annex I of the Agreement.

The following url shows the Bill C22 The Pre-clearance Act. I do not know if the Act has come into force yet. It clearly allows for the no fly lists and gives authority to pre-clearance officers in special setoff areas at airports to do thing with persons named.

8) Advance Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record- Share this on flights between Canada and the United States, including in-transit flights. Identify risks posed by passengers on international flights arriving in each other’s territory. (These are the “no fly” lists whereby any of us can be defined as a bad guy and not allowed to fly. Senator Kennedy was put the no fly list of the U.S.. It took a while to get his name removed.)

See what Canada’s privacy commissioner says about the No Fly lists.

See what our government says.

9) Joint Passenger Analysis Units-Establish joint units at key international airports in Canada and the United States.

10) Ferry Terminals- Review customs and immigration presence and practices at international ferry terminals. (End of sovereign Canadian only decisions)

11) Compatible Immigration Databases- automated database, such as Canada’s Support System for Intelligence, for information exchange, and enhance sharing of intelligence and trend analysis.

12) Immigration Officers Overseas- Increase number of Canadian and US immigration officers at airports overseas and enhance joint training of airline personnel. (More do it the US way when maybe we would not do it at all if we made our own decision)

13) International Cooperation- technical assistance to source and transit countries.

14) Harmonized Commercial Processing-complementary systems for commercial processing, including audit-based programs and partnerships with industry. Explore the merits of a common program.

15) Clearance Away from the Border- integrated trade facilitation through away-from- the-border processing for truck/rail cargo (and crews), including inland pre-clearance/post-clearance, international zones and pre-processing centers at the border, and maritime port in transit pre-clearance.

16) Joint Facilities- under current legislation and regulations create small, remote joint border facilities. Examine the legal and operational issues associated with the establishment of international zones and joint facilities, including armed protection or the arming of law enforcement officers in such zones and facilities. (An armed border)

17) Customs Data – Sign the Agreement on Sharing Data Related to Customs Fraud, exchange agreed upon customs data pursuant to NAFTA, and discuss what additional commercial and trade data should be shared for national security purposes. (By sharing financial data, they can drive anyone into bankruptcy if they want to. Re-read Orwell’s 1984) (Lockheed Martin, a military oriented company has been given the contract to handle Canadian census data which means under the USA Patriot Act, all the information about every Canadian is in the hands of the US Homeland Security. That body has Orwellian powers with tentacles now into Canadian homes. At what point will Canadian outrage emerge?)

18) In-transit Container Targeting at Seaports- exchange information and analysis. Work in partnership with the industry to develop advance electronic commercial manifest data for marine containers arriving from overseas.

19) Infrastructure Improvements- joint and coordinated physical and technological improvements to key border points and trade corridors – dedicated lanes and border modeling exercises. (Easy movement of troops into Canada)

20) Intelligent Transportation Systems-Deploy interoperable technologies in support of other initiatives to facilitate the secure movement of goods and people, such as transponder applications and electronic container seals. (Transponders are devices that take a picture of you as you drive by and track you – like on Ontario’s highway 407)

21) Critical Infrastructure Protection- Conduct bi-national threat assessments on trans-border infrastructure and identify necessary additional protection measures, and initiate assessments for transportation networks and other critical infrastructure.

22) Aviation Security-Finalize Federal Aviation Administration-Transport Canada agreement on comparability/equivalence of security and training standards.

23) Integrated Border and Marine Enforcement Teams-Expand IBET/IMET to other areas of the border and enhance communication and coordination.

24) Joint Enforcement Coordination-comprehensive and permanent coordination of law enforcement, anti- terrorism efforts and information sharing, such as by strengthening the Cross-Border Crime Forum and reinvigorating Project Northstar. (Law enforcement is a crucial part of sovereignty)

25) Integrated Intelligence – joint teams to analyze and disseminate information and intelligence, and produce threat and intelligence assessments. Initiate discussions regarding a Canadian presence on the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force. (Canada gives up any semblance of independent policies.) Is this the source of the bill coming before Parliament this month that will give increased powers to security forces to spy on and take action against e-mail and websites and cell phones and fax communications?

26) Fingerprints-RCMP to access FBI fingerprint data directly via real-time electronic link (and vice versa).

27) Removal of Deportees- Address legal and operational challenges to joint removals, and coordinate initiatives to encourage uncooperative countries to accept their nationals. (In other words, Canada will adopt US rules on who is to be deported. That explains the transition to violation of international human rights by Canada in the harsh treatment in Canada of the 5 Muslims detained without trial and without defence in provincial prison without release.)

28) Counter-Terrorism Legislation-Bring into force legislation on terrorism, including measures for the designation of terrorist organizations. (This is the source of our Anti–terrorist legislation – our Bill C 36, and the USA Patriot Act. It was not Canadian philosophy and policy and tradition that brought this Orwellian legislation into being. It was the demand from the US, and Canada’s submission to and under this agreement. Canada promised to deliver this. 9/11 was the impetus, the excuse, to do what was intended any way. In both the USA and Canada, the anti-terrorist legislation is up for review now. The goal is to make the laws in both countries even more invasive and liberty stripping, more Orwellian.)

29) Freezing of Terrorist Assets-Exchange advance information on designated individuals and organizations in a timely manner.

30) Joint Training and Exercises- joint response to terrorism- joint counter-terrorism training and exercises

Read how the U.S. Homeland Security website explains this agreement.

This Canada -US Smart Border Declaration militarizes Canada and sets the stage for a police state. It is responsible for our anti-terrorist law, which emulates the US Patriot Act. The anti-terrorist laws discriminate against racial groups, remove habeas corpus, (ie, the right to be produced before a court rather than arrested, locked up and the key thrown away), and remove the right to a fair trial or in some cases to any trial at all. They are trying to remove the right to defend ourselves. They criminalize dissent. They revoke civil liberties. These are Draconian laws sitting there waiting to pounce on lawful citizens when the right occasion presents itself. Canada’s anti-terrorist law is already being applied against Canadians of Middle Eastern heritage- note the 5 Muslims incarcerated in Toronto upon being accused of being terrorists. Our judicial history prevented indefinite incarceration without a trial. We had to be found guilty, not just accused. That protection is gone now.

2. The Public Safety Act, 2002 (Bill C7) grew out of Bills C 17, C55, and C42. This act amends 23 existing acts and implements the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention Act.

The Public Safety Act imposes many terms that restrict civil liberties. The section dealing with interim orders grants despotic powers to a number of Cabinet Ministers such that at their individual, sole decree without prior Parliamentary oversight, approval or sanction, they can impose the police state. Eight parts of the Bill amend various statutes to provide a new power permitting the responsible Minister to make interim orders in situations where immediate action is required (as he alone determines). For example, the Minister of Health can require mandatory vaccinations and quarantine.

Interim orders under The Public Safety Act are exempt from the usual requirements of our law that are in place to prevent abuse and excess. These orders are specifically free from checks to avoid abuse or violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Bill of Rights These orders avoid examination by government lawyers whose usual job is to ensure regulations and orders are not an unusual or unexpected use of authority; and that they do not trespass unduly on existing rights and freedoms.

The respective Ministers are:

  1. * Department of Health Act – Minister of Health;
  2. * Food and Drugs Act- Minister of Health;
  3. * Hazardous Products Act – Minister of Health;
  4. * Navigable Waters Protection Act – Minister of Fisheries and Oceans;
  5. * Pest Control Products Act – Minister of Health;
  6. * Quarantine Act – Minister of Health;
  7. * Radiation Emitting Devices Act – Minister of Health; and
  8. * Canada Shipping Act; Canada Shipping Act, 2001
  9. * Ministers of Transport and Fisheries and Oceans.

Now it is clearer to understand what the gun registration was all about! Disarm the people from protecting themselves from their own government, not protection from criminals. This concept of possibly needing to protect ourselves from our government is so foreign to the Canadian psyche that most of us did not see the malevolence of the gun registry program. We became unwitting dupes to the police state agenda because of our antipathy towards violence.

3. The Anti Terrorism Act – (Bill C 36) Currently under review to make it even more prohibitive.

4. The North American Security and Prosperity Initiative (NASPI)- a project of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) launched in January 2003 to develop a strategy for shaping Canada’s future within North America and Beyond.

That previous URL is a must read. It was posted or updated November 2, 2005 as News and Information. It is a discussion paper released April 2004. Here you can see that the chief executives of the 150 leading corporations of Canada are in the driver’s seat setting out the political agenda to meet its own interests. Their own language has a flavour of their attitude that they do rule.

Here is the preface to their discussion paper.

“The Council was the private sector leader in the development and promotion of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement during the 1980s and of the subsequent trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement. North American economic integration is now well advanced and irreversible, and in the face of global terrorism, the economic and physical security of the continent have become indivisible.

While the Council’s fundamental vision for North America remains trilateral, we believe that to be most effective in addressing some of the key challenges facing our continent today, Canada and the United States must take the lead in developing a new paradigm for cooperation, one that will increase the security of our respective citizens and maximize the ability of our countries to prosper in a world marked by increasingly intense competition among developed and developing countries. Given ever-growing international flows of goods, services, people, investment and ideas, this new paradigm must be based on respect for sovereignty while achieving more effective and mutually beneficial interdependence.

Following more than a year of research and consultation with academics, business leaders and government officials in Canada, the United States and Mexico, we are ready to share some of our thinking. Many important questions remain to be answered, but we hope that the 15 specific recommendations we offer in this discussion paper serve as a point of departure for debate within Canada and the United States and as a spur to action on the critical issues that we have identified.

On behalf of the members of the Council, we are grateful to our readers for your interest in the shared challenges facing Canadians and our North American partners. We look forward to your thoughts and to working with you to ensure growing security and prosperity for all North Americans.”

Richard L. George
Chairman

Thomas P. d’Aquino
President and Chief Executive

Most important is the CCCE statement that both the Martin Liberals and the Harper Conservatives support the CCCE initiative for a North American structure that will serve the corporate agenda. The CCCE paper states:

“While 2004 will bring elections in both Canada and the United States, political interest in new approaches to North America crosses partisan boundaries. Prime Minister Paul Martin has made clear his intention to reinvigorate Canada’s relationship with the United States as part of a broader strategy for strengthening Canada’s influence in the world. Stephen Harper, the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, has called for a continental “strategic partnership”, one that would link freer flows of goods, services, labour, capital and technology with improvements in continental security.”

So for all those strategists who urged people to vote Liberal to keep out the Conservatives, and for those voters who complied, we now can realize the stupidity in that approach. But most voters did not buy into that lie. In 2004 Canadians produced a minority government precisely because the voters knew intuitively that something very rotten is transpiring.

The report sets out five pillars for a comprehensive strategy:

“In launching its North American Security and Prosperity Initiative (NASPI), the CCCE suggested that a Canadian strategy for managing its future within the continent should be based on five pillars: reinventing borders; regulatory efficiency; resource security; the North American defence alliance; and new institutions.

Over the past year, there has been an explosion of research and discussion about options for North America. The intensity of the discussion has been greatest in Canada, but it has spread into both the United States and Mexico, across academic, business and government circles. There is clearly much more to be explored, tested and eventually negotiated, but the immense amount of work done over the past year has established a meaningful foundation for more detailed discussion of our options.

Based on all of the work by the CCCE and by many others, this discussion paper builds on the original framework of the CCCE’s North American initiative, suggests points of emerging consensus and puts forward 15 specific recommendations. From here, the CCCE hopes to foster further dialogue on the best options for Canada and on how best to move forward in building a 21st century Canada-United States partnership in North America.

ELEMENTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY

Ever since September 11, 2001, there has been no question that the management of the Canada-United States border must evolve. The two countries quickly agreed on the 30-point Smart Border action plan in late 2001, and much has been and continues to be achieved under this umbrella. Our two countries have been working closely, sharing information, developing and deploying new tools for managing risk, expanding border infrastructure and experimenting with new ways to speed the flows of low-risk goods and travellers while improving security overall.

As the CCCE suggested in launching its North American initiative, however, much more can and must be done. The CCCE continues to believe that a comprehensive strategy must encompass five pillars:

  1. * First, it must move beyond border management to the true reinvention of North American borders.
  2. * Second, efforts to smooth customs processing must be reinforced by a sweeping effort to reduce the costs and delays at the border caused by regulatory differences.
  3. * Third, and linked to regulatory issues, it must address issues in the resource sector to ensure that trade flows respect the twin principles of security of access and security of supply.
  4. * Fourth, it must recognize that all of the progress Canada desires on the economic front depends on a credible reinvigoration of the North American defence alliance.
  5. * Fifth, it must consider the development of a range of new institutions to manage the deepening of the Canada-United States relationship

Our government is implementing these suggestions of the CCCE incrementally. Read the section on North American Defence carefully if you had any doubts about the points raised in Part 1 of my paper respecting Canada’s complete integration with the US military agenda.

5. The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America signed by Martin (Canada), Bush (USA) and Fox (Mexico) in March 2005. This is the political arm complying with its marching orders from the CCCE. Read this URL to get the full flavour of the power unfolding.

Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America Established March 23, 2005 Waco, Texas

Below are the highlights of the statement made by the Leaders setting out the Security Agenda and Prosperity Agenda, while announcing the establishment of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). The statement was released March 23, 2005 at the conclusion of Prime Minister Paul Martin’s meeting with United States President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

SECURITY AND PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP OF NORTH AMERICA

We, the elected leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, gather in Texas to announce the establishment of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

Over the past decade, our three nations have taken important steps to expand economic opportunity for our people and to create the most vibrant and dynamic trade relationship in the world. Since September 11, 2001, we have also taken significant new steps to address the threat of terrorism and to enhance the security of our people.

But more needs to be done.

This work will be based on the principle that our security and prosperity are mutually dependent and complementary…Also, it will help consolidate our action into a North American framework to confront security and economic challenges…

… The Partnership is trilateral in concept; while allowing any two countries to move forward on an issue, it will create a path for the third to join later.

Advancing our Common Security

We will establish a common approach to security to protect North America from external threats, prevent and respond to threats within North America, and further streamline the secure and efficient movement of legitimate, low-risk traffic across our shared borders. As part of our efforts, we will:

  1. * Implement common border security and bioprotection strategies;
  2. * Enhance critical infrastructure protection, and implement a common approach to emergency response;
  3. * Implement improvements in aviation and maritime security, combat transnational threats, and enhance intelligence partnerships; and
  4. * Implement a border facilitation strategy to build capacity and improve the legitimate flow of people and cargo at our shared borders.

Advancing our Common Prosperity…

…. regulatory cooperation
….sectoral collaboration in energy, transportation, financial services, technology, and other areas to facilitate business; and invest in our people;
….efficient movement of goods and people; and…..

Next Steps

We will establish Ministerial-led working groups that will consult with stakeholders in our respective countries. These working groups will respond to the priorities of our people ( I do not think the people are the masses of citizens) and our businesses, and will set specific, measurable, and achievable goals. They will identify concrete steps that our governments can take to meet these goals, and set implementation dates that will permit a rolling harvest of accomplishments.

Within 90 days, Ministers will report back to us with their initial report. Following this, the groups will report on a semi-annual basis. Because the Partnership will be an ongoing process of cooperation, new items will be added to the work agenda by mutual agreement as circumstances warrant.

Through this Partnership, we will ensure that North America remains the most economically dynamic region of the world and a secure home for our people in this and future generations.

SECURITY AGENDA

… Canada, the United States, and Mexico will work together to ensure the highest continent-wide security standards and streamlined risk-based border processes are achieved in the following priority areas:

Secure North America from External Threats

  1. * Develop and implement a North American traveler security strategy, and a cargo security strategy for screening prior to departure from a foreign port and at the first port of entry to North America.
  2. * Develop and implement a North American bioprotection strategy to assess, prevent, protect, detect, and respond to intentional, as well as applicable naturally occurring threats to public health and the food and agriculture system.
  3. Prevent and Respond to Threats within North America
  4. * Develop and implement a strategy to enhance North American maritime transportation and port security.
  5. * Develop and implement a strategy to establish equivalent approaches to aviation security for North America.
  6. * Develop and implement a comprehensive North American strategy for combating transnational threats to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, including terrorism, organized crime, illegal drugs, migrant and contraband smuggling and trafficking.
  7. * Enhance partnerships on intelligence related to North American security.
  8. * Develop and implement a common approach to critical infrastructure protection, and response to cross-border terrorist incidents and, as applicable, natural disasters.

Further Streamline the Secure Movement of Low-risk Traffic across our Shared Borders
…… a border facilitation strategy to build capacity and improve the legitimate flow of people and cargo at ports of entry within North America.
…..new technologies to advance our shared security goals and promote the legitimate flow of people and goods across our borders.

PROSPERITY AGENDA

* Regulatory Cooperation …..compatibility of regulations and standards and eliminating redundant testing and certification requirements. Strengthen regulatory cooperation, including at the onset of the regulatory process, to minimize barriers.

…….greater cooperation in sectors such as autos, steel, and other sectors identified through consultations.

……increase reliable energy supplies for the region’s needs and development, by facilitating investment in energy infrastructure, technology improvements, production and reliable delivery of energy; ….. to streamline and update regulations; ….promoting energy efficiency, conservation, and technologies such as clean coal, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and renewable energy.

…. North America’s transportation system by expanding market access, facilitating multi-modal corridors, reducing congestion, and alleviating bottlenecks at the border that inhibit growth and threaten our quality of life (e.g., expand air services agreements, increase airspace capacity, initiate an Aviation Safety Agreement process, pursue smart border information technology initiatives, ensure compatibility of regulations and standards in areas such as statistics, motor carrier and rail safety, and working with responsible jurisdictions, develop mechanisms for enhanced road infrastructure planning, including an inventory of border transportation infrastructure in major corridors and public-private financing instruments for border projects).

…… freer flow of capital and the efficient provision of financial services throughout North America (e.g., facilitate cross-border electronic access to stock exchanges … further collaboration on training programs for bank, insurance and securities regulators and supervisors…..improve convenience and cost of insurance coverage for carriers engaged in cross border commerce.

…. cross-border technology trade … preventing unnecessary barriers from being erected (e.g., agree on mutual recognition of technical requirements for telecommunications equipment, tests and certification; adopt a framework of common principles for e-commerce).

….Lower the transaction costs of trade in goods by liberalizing the requirements for obtaining duty-free treatment under NAFTA, including through the reduction of rules of origin costs on goods traded between our countries.

….rationalizing minor differences in external tariffs, consistent with multilateral negotiation strategies.

….. facilitate further the movement of business persons within North America and discuss ways to reduce taxes and other charges residents face when returning from other North American countries.

Enhance public health cross-border coordination in infectious diseases surveillance, prevention and control (e.g., pandemic influenza).

…..Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use….identification and adoption of best practices relating to the registration of medicinal products.

6. The 40 point Smart Regulation Action Plan – announced March 24, 2005 at a Newsmaker Breakfast at the National Press Club. (Globe and Mail March 21).

This plan introduces huge changes to Canada’s regulatory system. This plan is the result of another corporate “task force”. The plan will make it easier and faster for corporations to get approval for new drugs, complete environmental assessments, and the like. On March 21, the Globe and Mail stated that one of the initiatives is: “A paperwork-burden-reduction task force with the private sector to reduce the obligations for business to comply with regulations at all levels of government”

The Smart Regulation Plan will “harmonize” Canadian regulations with U.S. regulations, i.e., make Canadian regulations the same as U.S. regulations, which means more deregulation and fewer protections for consumers. Canada often has very different regulations from the U.S in terms of things like safety and environment. For example, Bush’s U.S. refused to sign on to Kyoto, and has instituted environmental regulations that many U.S. citizens believe are a step backward for the U.S., and harmful to the environment.

It has been impossible to find an actual list of the 40 points referred to in various media reports. However, there are many references to the smart regulations in the various urls presented in this Part 2.

7. The Report of Ministers to the Leaders -SPP- North America June 2005, this is an important URL to read.

Three ministers from each of Canada USA and Mexico signed it. For Canada they are: Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness; David Emerson, Minister of Industry; and Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

They begin their report by saying that the leaders on March 23, 2005 asked their Ministers to create an overall architecture to enhance the security of North America and this report is a response to that request.

Read this and you will be left with no doubt that these Ministers and the Leaders are complying in spades to the demands of the CCCE. They are in fact creating regime changes in all three countries with the corporation giving the orders. They are in fact dismantling the constitutional structures of the three countries.

The report of the CCCE referred to in number 4 of in this part speaks of the need for involving the other levels of government, provincial, state and municipal to fully effect the plan. Reference is made to meetings with these other levels of government. This fact has a profoundly serious implication: the other levels of government are complicit in the violation of the constitutional rights and entitlements of the citizens as the constitutional structures of the respective countries are being dismantled.

Canada has a very clear division of powers between the federal government and the provincial governments. The division is of watertight compartments.. Not one of the provinces is complaining about the restructuring of this relationship, the emasculation of their sovereign power, nor of un-elected, unaccountable chief executive officers dictating what the provinces are to do.

The municipalities are creatures of the Provinces. Not one municipality is making any objection to the emasculation of their powers.

The constitution of Canada does not belong to the legislatures or to Parliament. It belongs to the citizens. So said our Supreme Court of Canada. These parliamentarians and legislators have no right to do what they are doing. But they are arrogant, and they do not care. Our system has become rotten to the core.

Our federal government is in process of reviewing our anti-terrorist legislation. It has not been easy to ascertain just where they are at in the process. The Canadian Action Party is taking steps to try to make presentation to that process.

The Canadian federal government has indicated it is bringing forward legislation imminently to allow security forces to spy on citizen use of the Internet, on e-mail, and on cell phones. It has been impossible for the Canadian Action Party to obtain the draft legislation.

The US government on October 13, 2005 published its order made in August 2005, which greatly increased the scope of legislation regarding the electronic monitoring of telecommunications providers. The order extends the legislation to cover broadband Internet access services, including wireless and voice-over-IP (VOIP) Internet Telephony services. Universities are required to comply. See: http://www.lifeboatnews.com Mike Ingram 26 October 2005 “Order Broadens Surveillance of Internet Users”

The Metamorphosis and Sabotage of Canada by our own Government Part 1

by Connie Fogal

Canadian Action Party

Part One of Three Parts

Summary:

The North American continent is being transformed from three sovereign nations (Canada, USA, Mexico) into one regional corporate power base, the North American Union. Unlike the creation of the European Union, there is no public political/academic discourse on the merits, or pros and cons of a North American Union building up to a vote within each nation as to the wish of the people to join such a union. Instead the union is being created by stealth, is already well on its way to fruition, and is being imposed on us by our own elected representatives and government with no opposition.

The driving forces are corporate and military. The Chief Executive Officers of the most powerful corporations operating in the three countries want this union and have been working for some time devising their strategies and goals. Their facilitators are first, unelected officials and bureaucrats who move easily between corporations and government; second, former elected officials like John Manley , former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada; third, the heads of the three nations, Martin, Bush, and Fox; and finally, the governments and the rest of the elected members who apparently just rubber stamp what is put in front of them by the unelected officials- few questions, if any asked.

The ultimate enforcement mechanism for the North American Union is a police state.

The tools for the police state are “anti-terrorist” laws.

Anti Terrorist laws are a ruse to strip the citizens of civil liberties in order to prevent dissent against the police state.

The Orwellian justification is “security”, “safety”.

Part one deals with the North American Union of Canada, USA and Mexico. It is being created by the corporate side under the North American Task Force, and on the military side by the Binational Military Planning group.

Part Two deals with – Laws Arrangements and Agreements all of which throw away our sovereignty, independence, and our civil liberties.

1. The Canada – U.S. Smart Border Declaration with a 30 point action plan signed Dec 12,2001
2. The Public Safety Act, 2002 with despotic powers to certain Cabinet Ministers
3. The Anti Terrorism Act currently under review
4. The Security and Prosperity Partnership Agreement signed by Bush and Martin in March of 2005
5. 40 Point Smart Regulation Action Plan announced March 24 2005

Part Three deals with the effect of all this bad law, some history, and what to do about it.

I am writing this article in three parts over time due to its length. I have included many urls to take you to sources to substantiate what I am saying. I continue to be surprised by the number of people who still refuse to believe that the scenario I describe is happening, and who demand to be taken off my broadcast lists.

Part 1- North American Union

Canadian patriots have been focusing on the wrong threat- annexation to the U.S.A with no voting rights, only colony status like a Gibraltar. The real plan emerges. The fact is that we are now already metamorphosing into something else – A North American Union comprised of Canada, U.S.A.,and Mexico. The goal is an internally borderless North America rid of the constitutional structures and rules of the separate nations that created and protected the democratic fabric of the respective peoples.

This Union is planned, directed, organized and coordinated by unelected, unaccountable people of the military /industrial complex with a few academic apologists thrown in for good measure. It is being facilitated by all three elected governments. This is the same military/industrial complex that General Eisenhower warned against.

This group is creating a despotic regime for the pursuit of their interest (rapacious greed and power) which is diametrically opposed to the needs and interests of the citizens in all three countries. Their plan is to make all of North America their power base acting in their interest only. Forget the people.

The two bodies (one corporate, one military) which have been functioning for some time to create this treasonous union are well advanced in that formation. They are: the Canada-U.S.A-Mexico task force and The Binational Military Planning Group.

1. The corporate side: The Canada-U.S.A-Mexico task force

The Canada-U.S.A-Mexico Task Force is comprised of the leading CEOs of the most powerful corporations from Canada, USA and Mexico, prominent former officials, businessmen, and academic apologists from all three countries. They are: (a) From U.S.A. – Council on Foreign Relations;
(b) From Mexico- the Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales;
(c) From Canada: Canadian Council of Chief Executives-
Founded in 1976, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives is Canada’s premier business association composed of the chief executives of 150 leading Canadian enterprises. The CCCE was the Canadian private sector leader in the development and promotion of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement during the 1980s and of the subsequent trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement.

This task force is currently headed by Canada’s own former Liberal Deputy Prime Minister, John Manley (who allegedly seeks to replace Paul Martin as Prime Minister).

This task force was sanctioned by the three leaders, Prime Minister Martin, President Bush and President Fox, in March of 2005 at a special meeting in Texas at Bush’s ranch at which the three leaders signed the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

In practice, the elected governments of the three countries are the willing dupes promulgating laws that impose a police state in order to enforce rules that enable the new regime. Some would call this treason.

(2) The military side: The Binational Military Planning Group

Founded in late 2002, its mandate is to lay the groundwork for the integration of a Canada – US military command structure, and the militarization of civilian law enforcement, and judicial function in Canada and the USA. Their stated mandate is first to prepare contingency plans to respond to land and sea threats, and attacks, and other major emergencies; and second, to plan for coordinated response for military assistance to civil authorities in the event of threat or attack, and for civil emergency in Canada and the USA.

Neither of the Task Force nor the Military Planning group is accountable to the US Congress, nor to the Canadian House of Commons, nor to the Mexican government, and certainly not to the citizenry.

1. Let us focus first on the corporate side, the Canada- USA- Mexico task force.

See: Trilateral Task Force Recommendations

And: Trilateral Commission website
http://www.trilateral.org/

And: Council on Foreign Relations: Trinational call for a North American
Economic and Security Community by 2010

http://www.cfr.org/publication.html?id=7914

These Canadian, U.S., and Mexican elites are the same players who gave us the FTA and the NAFTA. They continue their work creating a North American union that integrates our economies and transforms our total policy-making capacity away from the public interest and away from the public good.

This plan goes by various names:
* Deep Integration
* Harmonization
* NAFTA-plus
* the “Big Idea” (C.D. Howe Institute)
* the “North American Security and Prosperity Initiative”
* Americanization

The plan of this Canada-U.S.-Mexico task force is to establish a continent-wide customs union with a common approach to trade, energy, immigration, law enforcement and security that would virtually eliminate existing national borders. The task force released its recommendations for a common North American in May 17/18 2005. There was minor reference to it in mainstream media, but no headline presentation. The recommendations include:

* * a common security perimeter by 2010.
* * a North American Border Pass with biometric identifiers.
* * a unified border and expanded customs facilities.
** a single economic space: (It is this area that would destroy any opportunity to bring back the use of our Bank of Canada.)
* * a common external tariff.
* * seamless movement of goods within North America.
* * Full labor mobility between Canada and the U.S. (Note they apparently do not want the Mexican labourers?)
* * A North American energy strategy – as a regional alternative to Kyoto.
* * Review those sectors of NAFTA that were excluded.
* * A North American regulatory plan that would include “open skies and open roads” and a unified approach on food, health, and the environment.
* * Expand temporary worker programs and create a “North American preference” for immigration for citizens of North America.
* * A North American Investment Fund to build infrastructure to connect Mexico’s poorer regions in the south to the market to the north.
* * Restructure and reform Mexico’s public finances.
* * Fully develop Mexican energy resources (Mexico wisely kept their energy out of NAFTA)
* * A permanent tribunal for trade and investment disputes.( Here is where any vestige of democratic government disappears)
* * An annual North American summit meeting.
* * A Tri-national Competition Commission with a common approach to trade remedies.
* * Scholarships for a network of Centers for North American Studies. (To serve the corporations)

Below is the list of the Members of the Independent Task Force on North America- Many are members of the Trilateral Commission – a similar corporate interest group from the USA, Japan and Western Europe )

Minister Pedro Aspe (Mexican co-chair), Protego
Mr. Thomas S. Axworthy, Queen’s University
Ms. Heidi S. Cruz, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Mr. Nelson W. Cunningham, Kissinger McLarty Associates
Mr. Thomas P. d’Aquino (Canadian co-vice chair), Canadian Council of Chief Executives
Mr. Alfonso de Angoitia, Grupo Televisa, S.A.
Dr. Luis de La Calle Pardo, De la Calle, Madrazo, Mancera, S.C.
Professor Wendy K. Dobson, University of Toronto
Dr. Robert A. Pastor (U.S. co-vice chair), American University
Mr. Andres Rozental, (Mexican co-vice chair), Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales
Dr. Richard A. Falkenrath, The Brookings Institution
Dr. Rafael Fernandez de Castro, Instituto Tecnoleegico Autenomo de Mexico
Mr. Ramen Alberto Garza, Montemedia
The Honorable Gordon D. Giffin, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
Mr. Allan Gotlieb, Donner Canadian Foundation
Mr. Michael Hart, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs
Mr. Carlos Heredia, Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales
The Honorable Carla A. Hills, Hills Company
Dr. Gary C. Hufbauer, Institute for International Economics
Dr. Luis Rubio, CIDAC
Dr. Jeffrey J. Schott, Institute for International Economics
Mr. Pierre Marc Johnson, Heenan Blaikie
The Honorable James R. Jones, Manatt Jones Global Strategies
Dr. Chappell H. Lawson (Task Force Director), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Honourable John P. Manley (Canadian co-chair), McCarthy Tetrault
Mr. David McD. Mann, Cox Hanson O’Reilly Matheson
Ms. Doris M. Meissner, Migration Policy Institute
The Honorable Thomas M.T. Niles, Institute for International Economics
The Honorable William F. Weld (U.S. co-chair),Leeds Weld & Co.
Mr. Raul H. Yzaguirre

The few media references to the task force parrot the Orwellian double speak of the task force and politicians. The effect is to trick the people into believing this process is something good for us. But if you read carefully, you can identify that the regime change is all about the greed of an elite few. In order to manipulate us into accepting the regime change, they pretend it will protect us from “terrorists”. Terrorism has become the external threat, the bogey-man replacing Communism, just as Muslims have replaced Jews as scapegoats..

From Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States, Canada and Mexico should establish a common security perimeter to guard against terrorism in North America, a tri-national independent task force said in a report released on Tuesday.

The countries should police their borders together to help border trade, allow easier movement of citizens and to keep out potential security threats, the task force said at New York’s Council on Foreign Relations.

“If our two borders, the one between Canada and the United States and the U.S. and Mexico, became a frontline for security the impact that would have on normal relations and economic relations would be profound,” said co-chairman John Manley, a former Canadian deputy prime minister and minister of finance.

From All American Patriots News:

May 17, 2005–North America is vulnerable on several fronts: the region faces terrorist and criminal security threats, increased economic competition from abroad, and uneven economic development at home. In response to these challenges, a tri-national, Independent Task Force on the Future of North America has developed a roadmap to promote North American security and advance the well-being of citizens of all three countries.

Pointing to increased competition from the European Union and rising economic powers such as India and China in the eleven years since NAFTA took effect, co-chair Pedro C. Aspe, former Finance Minister of Mexico, said, “We need a vision for North America to address the new challenges.” The Task Force establishes a blueprint for a powerhouse North American trading area that allows for the seamless movement of goods, increased labor mobility, and energy security.

John P. Manley, Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance said, “We are asking the leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada to be bold and adopt a vision of the future that is bigger than, and beyond, the immediate problems of the present. They could be the architects of a new community of North America, not mere custodians of the status quo.”

In other words, forget Canada; forget the United States of America; forget the United States of Mexico. Sounds rather treasonous to me!

Let us be very clear here. What the task force addresses is an economic/legal system in their interest with a police state to enforce it.

This task force is extrapolating the globalization process into a North American unit. Under the mantle of the WTO (an agreement in its own right,) there is in process a transformation of the forces of power in the world from sovereign national control of resources over to the global corporate control. It is what they call “deregulation” and “privatization“. That is why they called all the agreements “Free Trade”. They meant free from regulations and controls that protect consumers and the public generally, including protections from theft of the commons.

Now the intent is for transfer from global corporate control to regional corporate control, e.g., European Union, North American Union; that is, corporate political control free from government accountability to electors. The North American task force seeks to create a unit even freer from the vestigial citizen involvement that exists in the E.U. (Britain and Australia are lackeys of the United States.)

The FTA, the NAFTA, are well known. The Canadian Action Party and other concerned Canadians have been detailing the harm of these agreements for years. CAP has steadfastly called for the abrogation of the FTA and NAFTA. We have always said, “Issue the 6 month notice to abrogate!” The most recent justification for abrogation is the U.S.’s refusal to pay back $5 billion they owe our lumber industry for illegal duties the U.S. charged.

Despite years of proof of uneven and unfair use by the USA of the rules of the FTA and NAFTA, including the unfair closing of the U.S side of the border to Canadian beef, the Liberals, Conservatives, the NDP, and the Bloc Quebecois have refused to call for abrogation. It is only in the face of the clarity of this latest U.S. abuse of Canada that all of them are beginning to pretend they are not wimps or complicit dupes. Still, none of them is willing to say, “Abrogate”, period! How much longer are we willing to tolerate these politicians who not only meekly submit to being stomped on, but then turn to their attacker and apologize for being victimized?

Why do they do this? It is because all of their most influential leaders are members of this elite group who seek to remove democracy and entrench plutocracy. It is not a question of what is good for the citizens of Canada, U.S.A or Mexico. Note that the United States is turning that $5 billion which has been stolen from the Canadian lumber industry over to their own lumber barons, not their general body of citizens.

This North American Impetus is a natural political extension and outgrowth of all these global economic arrangements as the greedy financial elite look around for the best ways to effect their goals. It has everything to do with the destruction of democracy and the death of freedom. These corporate bodies have no allegiance to the nation they happen to operate in, or to its people.

Other harmful international agreements include the General Agreement on Trade and Services, (GATS), the Financial Services Investment Agreement,(FSIA), the Free Trade Area of the Americas, (FTAA), the Central American Free Trade Agreement, (CAFTA). All of these grow out of the World Trade Organization, (WTO), itself being an agreement that commands an ongoing deregulation and privatization process.

The eventual goal is to have all of North and South America as one regional power block stronger than anything in Europe or Asia. Fortunately for human beings, South America has not been the easy pushover that the corporations presumed, so they have to settle for a North American Union for now. (Why do you think Pat Robertson, a U.S. religious leader, on national U.S. media, and on Canada’s C.B.C., recently called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the Leader of Venezuela?)

There exists a North America Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. See:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/can-am/main/front_page/north_american_bureau-en.asp

The role of the North America Bureau is two-fold:

* to advance, in cooperation with other parts of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canadian diplomatic missions in the United States and Mexico, and other Canadian Government departments and agencies, Canada’s wide-ranging interests in its relations with the United States and Mexico; and

* to promote Canada’s broad foreign policy objectives within and through the Canada-US and the Canada-Mexico bilateral relationships.

In fulfilling this role, the Bureau is organized into four divisions:

* the United States Relations Division,
* the United States Transboundary Division, and
* the United States Business Development Division and
* The Mexico Division

2. Let us now look at the second body, The Binational Military Planning Group. (Source Michel Chossudovsky.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CH0411C.html

Chossudovsky says the people of NORAD and the Binational Planning Group are the same . They operate the same command. NORAD has essentially been scrapped. It has been integrated into US Northern Command, and Canada has become a de facto member of NORTHCOM under the auspices of the Bi-national Planning Group (BPG).

So, when Prime Minister Paul Martin said “no” to Star Wars, he did not really say no. He lied to us.

The Binational Planning Group was set up in late 2002 after Prime Minster Chretien refused to join NORTHCOM. The creation of Northcom had been announced unilaterally in April 2002 by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfield who dictated that the 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 set out in the U.S. DoD includes the continental U.S. ,all of Canada, Mexico, 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 was being quietly negotiated with Ottawa’s Department of Defence and the PMO. Under NORTHCOM the U.S. military will cross the border and deploy troops anywhere in Canada, in our provinces as well as station American warships in Canadian territorial waters. The locale for these discussions is not in Canada, but at the Peterson Air Force base in Colorado, the headquarters of the US Northern Command (Northcom) .

Chossudovsky reports that Rumsfeld is said to have boasted that, NORTHCOM with all of North America as its geographic command is part of the greatest transformation of the Unified Command Plan (UCP) since its inceptions in 1947.

When PM Chretien refused to sign on the dotted line, Rumsfield et al, the military establishment, both U.S. and Canadian, refused to take no for an answer. They immediately created a new name to accommodate the concept of NORTHCOM and called it the Binational Planning group . It is still operating out of the Peterson Air force base. It was supposed to last only for two years but its mandate has been renewed to spring of 2006. (Note- look for a Canadian election before the expiry date.

The BPG has a staff of 50 U.S. and Canadian military planners laying the groundwork fo the integration of Canada-U.S. military command structures. The BPG works in close coordination with the Canada-U.S. Military Cooperation Committee at the Pentagon, and is responsible for detailed joint military planning.

Respecting missile defence, Martin told the press on February 22,2005:
“[The Americans] were told we will not participate. It is a firm no.”

Chossudovsky reminds us that simultaneously, Frank McKenna ambassador designate to the US, in a contradictory statement, told the media Canada’s participation in the controversial BMD is a “done deal”. It’s de facto. It was part of a negotiation process initiated two years ago.

“We’re part of it now and the question is what more do we need?” said McKenna. “There’s no doubt, in looking back, … that the NORAD amendment has given, has created part, in fact a great deal, of what the United States means in terms of being able to get the input for defensive weaponry.”

What Ambassador McKenna was hinting at, without revealing the substance of US-Canada negotiations (behind closed doors), is that NORAD is a defunct military body.

So the military side of this treason is waiting for government sanction in the spring of 2006 after our next election. Once again the arrogant confidence is at least irritating if not alarming.

Even though there is no official sanction yet, de facto sanctions exist as Canada is participating more and more in the US wars. Now we have more troops in Afghanistan, and General Hilliard is warning Canadians to be prepared for the body bags returning to Canada. There is something really wrong with this picture.

In a comprehensive report prepared shortly before the Bush-Martin talks November 2004, the BPG made recommendations on: “how the two countries’ militaries can work together more effectively to counter these [terrorist] threats. … formalizing cooperation already taking place on an informal basis.” (Statement of BPG spokesman, US Department of Defence Information, November 3, 2004)

With regard to military negotiations, McKenna knows what is happening behind the scenes. He was on the board of directors of the Carlyle Group together with Bush Senior and Frank Carlucci (The bin Laden family were investors in Carlyle until 9/11).

Carlyle, is the leading private equity investor in the aerospace and defence industries in the US and Canada. It plays a key role in the formulation of US defence and foreign policy. It has a vested interest in Canada’s integration into NORTHCOM.

Michel Chossusdovsky points out that Canada’s participation in the Bilateral Planning Group and hence the Northern Command implies Canada’s acceptance not only of Star Wars, but of the entire US war agenda, requiring significant hikes in Canada’s defence spending. The latter are intended to fuel the military-industrial complex. Canada’s defence contractors are supportive of this process.

Chossudovsky points to Canada’s February 2005 budget, released on the day following P.M. Paul Martin’s categorical “No” to the Missile Defence Program. Chossudovsky notes that an additional $12.8 billion dollars (Cdn) (over the next five years), has added to Canada’s spiralling defence budget. The stated objective is to “burnish the country’s credibility as a global peacekeeping partner.”

Chossudovsky notes further that the budget is not meant to refurbish the country’s conventional military hardware, but rather will be channelled to Canadian weapons producers, many of which are affiliates of US defence conglomerates, upon Canada’s accession to NORTHCOM.. He lists some major players in Canada’s defence industry: General Dynamics (Canada), Bell Helicopter Textron (Canada), General Motors Defense, CAE Inc, Bombardier, SNC-Lavalin Group, etc.

So we can see that those two bodies, the trilateral task force and the Bilateral Planning group, are well entrenched in process. The fact is that most Canadians oppose this deep economic and military integration.

Now the greedy corporations are staking out a claim on more and more land in a region of North America in order to be bigger, and better and more profitable than a group of corporations from another regional block. The European Union was the first block. There is a rising Asian block. I am not the first to see the USA attacks on the Middle East as a means of preventing the Asian blocks from becoming the most powerful . The third region is the Americas. South America has not been an easy go for the globalizers. So the focus is concentrating for now on North America.

By examination of the arrangements and deals happening under our noses but by stealth, we can see that our worries expressed over the years are coming to fruition. The globalizers are well into the process of implementing a clear regime run by them, about them, for them, and enforced by governments. The masses of people do not count except as cannon fodder in the wars of conquest and as slaves for the production process.

There is every intention of regime change from democracy to tyranny. Our governments are already the willing whipping boys being the instruments of social control. They have no shame in removing our civil liberties and destroying our constitutional protections. This is happening all around the world with the USA, Britain, Australia and Canada being the most advanced in the regime change process. It is an outrage and a disgrace that Canada is now competing with Britain to become the lowliest lick spittle groveling agent to the USA led regime change process. There is nothing good in this regime change process for the citizen.

World Bank is going bust

By George Pascoe-Watson

Political Editor

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/money/article1868401.ece

THE world’s bank — the International Monetary Fund — is going BUST and must be bailed out, Gordon Brown warned last night.

The IMF has only got $300 billion left, it emerged – with dozens of countries queuing up for major handouts to keep afloat.

The British PM urged cash-rich China and oil sheikhs to give hundreds of billions so the IMF can keep giving out funds – and stop it going bust

Mr. Brown said: “This may not be enough. It is becoming increasingly clear to me we cannot delay and we now need substantial additional resources in addition to the $250 billion the IMF already has available.”

The IMF’s role is to help countries stave off bankruptcy. It handed over $37 billion to Ukraine this week and Hungary is also desperate for funds.

Dozens of others – especially in eastern Europe – will need big bailouts because of the global slump.

World leaders fear a Russian takeover move unless they are able to survive. China is cash-rich, having spent ten years banking profits in a special fund rather than investing them abroad

Oil-rich countries in the Gulf are also able to plough funds into the IMF. The UK supplies five percent of IMF cash, compared with China’s 3.7 percent.

Last night Mr. Brown held talks in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who backed the PM in urging the reshaping of the IMF.

Mr. Sarkozy said: “We will work hand in glove to get out of this terrible crisis.”

Mr. Brown said: “Our first priority is to stop the contagion to other countries, including in eastern Europe, where there are problems emerging and action must be taken.”

FEMA Links

http://www.libertyforlife.com/jail-police/us_concentration_camps.htm

Liberty for Life Association – page specifically deals with FEMA camps. Documentation and external links.

A Collection of some of the best news and video highlights

From another CAP email. This is must-see and -read information.

“This is a collection of some of the best news and video highlights I’ve seen recently that are relevant to the current political landscape as we approach a federal election. In the context of the unfolding NA Union, it is vitally important to be aware of what is going on in Canada as well as in the US, both economically, and militarily. ”

1/       Go here – http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/439.html – for a remarkable look at the conspiracy for world government in action. On March 18 and 20, 2003, the Prime Ministers of Canada and Australia, separated by thousands of miles and a couple of days, made speeches to justify the invasion of Iraq. At this site, you will see them side by side, making the same speech, not just the same thoughts, but literally the same words, exactly. Somebody up
there wrote the speech and shipped it off to both of them and they did as they were told. Just another day in world government.

2/    Federal government quietly releases $490B military plan    Details posted online Thursday night 

Last Updated: Friday, June 20, 2008 | 4:51 PM ET
   The Conservative government has quietly released the details of its extensive plan to beef up the military, including spending $490 billion over the next 20 years to ensure Canadian soldiers are well-equipped, well-trained and highly active.

   Details of the plan, known as Canada First Defence Strategy, were posted Thursday night without fanfare on the Department of National Defence website.

   http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/20/military-plan.html
   3/    US / Canada military agreement

   U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, left, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, and Canadian Air Force Lt.-Gen. Marc Dumais, commander of Canada Command, signed a Civil Assistance Plan that allows the military from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a civil emergency. The signing took place at U.S. Army North headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Feb. 14, 2008.
   U.S. Northern Command, Canada Command establish new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan

4/    A military coup in the US?

Give Me Liberty – a Handbook for American Revolutionaries

   On 1 Oct the 1st Brigade (3 – 4,000 troops) of the 3rd Infantry was deployed to police the streets of the US. This the first time since 1807 that this has been done. These are Iraq combat troops. These troops answer to the President, NOT Congress.

   The recent bank bailout included a $100 Billion fund for the discretionary use of the President with no congressional oversight.

   Is this a coup ? Watch NAOMI WOLFE;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgkeTanCGI     (30 MINUTES)

   and   YouTube – U.S. Army prepares to invade U.S.

   The relevance of this should be clear after reading about the US / Canada military agreement above.

5/    The Wall Street Welfare Act

How the crooked bailout was passed by Congress – The Wall Street Welfare Act

Congress’ $700 billion bailout – That’s nothing! The complete story;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM79QpaxvOs

6/    How Harper Govt Pushed Financial Deregulation Here, Abroad
Way cleared for US mortgage firms and easy credit, insured by Canadian taxpayers.
   http://thetyee.ca/Views/2008/10/08/HarperEcon/

   7/    Prince George Citizen   Thursday, 02 October 2008
   PM Harper has already officially endorsed the North American Union!

   Building a ‘North American Community’

   Indeed, the Stephen Harper government has been reported to be in the process of getting various Canadian government departments and agencies to “harmonize”, with U.S. governmental agencies, to expedite the assimilation of Canada into the neo-conservative vision of a “Fortress North America”.    The Council of Foreign Relations has indeed published a book on its North American Union manifesto entitled  “Building a North American Community”.

    “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

A Coming New Currency

This article was sent to me by CAP; a thorough review of the current economic situtation. A good read.

by David N. Vaughn
October 14, 2008
What can we say?

We are experiencing the most severe financial crisis since 1929.  It hurts.
There appears to be no relief in site.  What began with mortgage defaults has now spread to the derivative markets. You will hear the term “credit default swaps” by the hour as this mess deepens and worsens. What are credit default swaps?

A credit default swap (CDS) is the most common type of derivative.  A credit default swap is similar to an insurance contract protecting the owner against certain financial risks.  Are you confused?  These types of derivative are very complicated and not even totally understood by those who create them and profit from them.  Of course right now these derivatives are failing and no one is profiting.  And because of the volume of these derivatives is the reason our
banking system and financial institutions are falling apart.

“If Congress is actually going to take steps like freezing foreclosures (which it won’t, but which it has no Constitutional authority to do in any case), it may as well take the step actually required here, – to declare all credit default swaps retroactively unenforceable. The CDS’s are the real problem, and the only solution is to void them (they were all constructed in secret, without regulatory oversight of any kind, and apparently threaten the world economy.)”
bloggingstocks.com, 9-29-2008

For the past half a decade this type of poker has become very popular with folks wanting to “speculate” with the possibility of above average and high returns.  And with every risky speculation there is a tremendous downside if the bet fails.  We are definitely seeing failure.  It is estimated there may be 530 plus trillion US dollars of these types of derivatives on the market.  And with this quantity of money turning into losses can you understand now why the
financial world as we know it is collapsing?

Do you really want to understand what the heck these 530 trillion plus “credit default swaps” are?  Vanity Fair did a great on site interview asking financial types in New York just what these types of derivatives are.  Go to the following link below and fill yourself with wisdom by hearing an audio presentation of what a credit default swap is.  Good humor.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/10/whats-a-credit-default-swap.html

What our government is attempting to do now is to prop up insolvent institutions that have bet on these failing derivatives.  Insufficient monetary reserves and zero regulations.  Credit default swaps are an untamed and unregulated market.

“Don’t understand credit default swaps? Don’t worry­neither does Congress.”  “No one loses­as long as no one tries to cash in on the insurance.” motherjones.com/news/feature

The key to the problem seems to be in the following sentence below.

“No one loses­as long as no one tries to cash in…”

Evidently, everyone now is attempting to cash in.

“Uncle Sam, for all his righteous indignation, is, in fact, the father of all deceptive accounting. The government has arranged its budgeting to keep the great bulk of its liabilities off the books and out of sight.  The real liability facing our government is $70 trillion.”  Forbes, 9-29-2008

One of the major concerns now is whether the US government might find itself in a position soon where it will not be able to make payments on its large debt. This crisis began about a year ago as professional investors began to lose confidence in large financial institutions and began pulling their money out and calling in loans.  Confidence has evaporated gradually and now stepped up to a climax.  Many of these credit default swaps were written against mortgage
defaults and the owners of these derivatives were therefore liable for the financial loss.  To comprehend a number like 530 trillion worth of derivatives is staggering. And as more and more companies and bonds default the money to pay off these debts just isn’t there.

What is happening today?  Where are we going?  Well, for sure we are witnessing the nationalization of the US banking system as one of the answers to this problem.  How convenient that these circumstances are occurring now for those wanting to see greater governmental control over our nation.

We are going to witness the ultimate collapse of the US dollar as a result of this crisis expanding.  And if I am wrong?  Come on folks.  The US government has just stated they are going to begin injecting government money into the US banking system and pump whatever money is necessary to sustain the US economy. Where do you think this money is going to come from?  Already the US pays 4 billion dollars a day toward foreign debt.  You know and I know that when personal debt reaches a certain level it just is not sustainable any more.  Try
running your household with half your income going to debt.  It just doesn’t work.

CNBC 2 years ago laughed at the speculation of a new currency called the amero, the New North American Union Currency.  Two years ago CNBC laughed heartedly at this idea but now no one is laughing as the United States desperately looks for a solution to the present growing financial bust.  The introduction of a new currency in times of a financial crisis is not a new idea, but has occurred before in history when an economic failure called for the elimination of
massive accrued debt.  Listen to the video below on CNBC.  Listen to the laughter.  I don’t believe anyone is laughing now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkfzRR1Zzj8

Already, the US dollar is becoming more and more unpopular with every passing day.  As the text below states George Soros makes the statement that the dollar was losing its prominence even back in April this year.

“The U.S. Federal Reserve’s efforts to encourage bank lending by cutting interest rates has been “impaired by the unwillingness of the rest of the world to accept dollars,” Soros said.”  International Herald Tribune, 4-17-2008

What one simple solution is going to bring this disaster to an end?  Any sensible person knows that the creation of more and more debt piled on top of itself as the US government is presently doing is only going to make the situation worse.  And when the US dollar eventually crashes?  What better time then will there be to introduce a new currency.  The people will demand it.
The laughter back at CNBC is still absent.

In a nutshell, what would be the advantage of creating a new American currency?  When the dollar crashes that will be the best time for the introduction of a new currency.  The people will demand it because the new currency will be a solution to dealing with and paying off all the huge amassed debt.  Government debt and individual personal debt.  The new currency will be
weaker than the present US dollar and will be used to pay off US debt all around the world.  When you think about it the national debt has got to be addressed soon because of its growing size.  There is no way it can ever be paid off even partially without a major change in the US currency system.  And what do you think will happen to your 401K and personal savings with the introduction of an even weaker currency than the dollar?  Are these normal times?  Of course not.  Another major US institution right now is hanging in the balance.  Who would have ever believed even five years ago that General Motors would be on the edge of extinction?

“…GM’s spending $3b a year on interest payments, burning through a reported $1b per month…”  “After six to nine months, GM as we know it will be dead.” thetruthaboutcars.com/general-motors-death-watch-181-bankruptcy/

Even the International Monetary Fund is predicting the financial meltdown to persist.

“IMF Predicts Major Global Slowdown Amid Financial Crisis”   “The world economy is decelerating quickly­buffeted by an extraordinary financial shock… the IMF says in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO).”  imf.org/external/pubs, 10-8-2008

And here is where the new US currency steps in.  The American people will be demanding it in a few months after this financial crisis has grown to the point where it has wiped out 90% of US savings and 401K portfolios.

“The world economy is entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous financial shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s, according to the WEO…”  “…financial conditions are expected to remain very difficult, even assuming that actions by the U.S. and European authorities succeed in stabilizing financial conditions and in avoiding further systemic events.”  “…persistent financial stress and the credit constraints from deleveraging, which could be deeper and more protracted than in the baseline scenario; and the U.S. housing market deterioration, which could be deeper than forecast…”  imf.org/external/pubs, 10-8-2008

When the powerful IMF starts predicting economic failure its time to start paying attention.  Your response can begin by getting out of debt and buying gold.  We are talking about asset preservation here.  How many people know that many states are running out of money even as we speak and can no longer even borrow short term debt to keep their governments running?  California is desperately in need of a cash infusion.  If California were a country it would
be the 7th largest country in the world.  California needs 7 billion dollars ASAP.  Another 7 billion dollars created out of thin air?  This debt growth is quickly reaching its climax.

“California is running out of money”  “Arnold Schwarzenegger, California governor, says the state may need to turn to US government for financing”  “Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California governor, has told US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the most populous state may need to turn to the federal government for short-term financing as a $7 billion sale of notes may be foiled by weak credit markets.” “Mr Schwarzenegger has warned that California might have to delay payments to teachers and other workers, and in the letter he added that California is not alone.”  business.timesonline.co.uk, 10-3-2008

On Sunday George Soros was interviewed on CNN for his opinion on the present financial crisis.  George Soros said that the days of the United States borrowing from China were over.  The position of the United States as financial leader of the world is now compromised.  The US debt load is going to dramatically increase in the coming months.  Just too much growing leverage. The middle class will be squeezed out and down.  The era of the past 30 years are over.  A new world order is now being established.

“U.S. May Take Ownership Stake in Banks” “Having tried without success to unlock frozen credit markets, the Treasury Department is considering taking ownership stakes in many United States banks to try to restore confidence in the financial system, according to government officials. “  “In return, the law gives the Treasury the right to take ownership positions in banks, including healthy ones.” nytimes.com, 10-8-2008

The Bank of England has just nationalized the British banking system.  Now it is time for the United States to nationalize its banks.  How about that.  A US government to guarantee all lending between US banks.

“America Is Not Too Big to Fail” “The earthquake will come via a collapse in the market for U.S. government bonds as domestic and foreign investors realize that the only way Uncle Sam can meet his future spending obligations is to print massive quantities of money…” “Scared yet?”  Fortune

It’s important now to speak a little on the gold mining equities.  As most of you know they cratered this past summer.  But now may be a good time to start once again keeping an eye on this market.  Because of our financial crisis I am seeing more commentators appear on Fox, CNN and NBC talking about gold.  And in addition to recommending gold they are also stating that eventually dollars will begin to pour into this sector as this market will represent one of the very few promising equities left.  And of course we are living in the last days of cheap resources and cheap commodities.

Don’t forget to email.

And what about gold? Will we eventually see a reaction in the precious metals market as consumers rush to hard assets after their 401K disintegrates?

Alf Field – “The resulting massive creation of new liquidity would destroy or vastly reduce the purchasing power of currencies as we know them today.” “The assets in the most secure category at the tip of the inverted pyramid are gold and silver bullion, assets that have performed the function of protecting wealth throughout the ages. In the layer above the precious metals lie the companies that mine and hold large deposits of gold and silver.” Alf Field, 9-6-2007

It is said that every great civilization leaves behind a legacy.  The ancient Greeks contributed to the world the refinement of the city.  The Romans contributed the fine art of killing.  The future legacy of the United States will be the refined and mastered art of financial leverage.

Copyright © 2008 David N. Vaughn

Dr. Mercola’s comment on energy drinks

I haven’t added the complete article; it’s quite long. You can access the full review by clicking on the link below.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/10/16/caffeine-experts-call-for-warning-labels-for-energy-drinks.aspx

The U.S. market for energy drinks was a whopping $5.4 billion in 2006. Since its inception in the late 80’s, the energy drink market has grown exponentially, increasing at a rate of 47 percent per year in the U.S., and 55 percent worldwide.  

Nearly 500 new brands were launched worldwide in 2006, and 200 new energy drinks hit the U.S. market in the 12-month period ending July 2007 alone, overtaking bottled water as the fastest-growing category in the beverage business. 

This is in large part due to highly successful marketing to teenagers and young adults, satisfying their craving for speed, stamina, and “boundless energy.” 

But like all quick health fixes, energy drinks come at a price, which in some cases have included death. 

What is Caffeine Intoxication? 

If you’ve never heard of caffeine intoxication, you’re not alone. It’s not often discussed, as most people won’t consume coffee or soda in amounts high enough, or quickly enough, to suffer an acute effect. But when you consider that some energy drinks contain the equivalent of four or five cups of coffee in one can, you realize how you could easily consume the equivalent of a couple of pots of coffee in very short order. 

Among the worst offenders, in terms of caffeine overload, are: 

  • SPIKE Shooter – 35.7mg/oz (16 oz = 570 mg)
  • Cocaine Energy Drink – 33.3 mg/oz (16 oz = 533 mg)
  • Redline RTD – 31.3 mg/oz (16 oz = 501 mg)
  • Blow (energy drink mix) – 30 mg/oz (16 oz = 480 mg)
  • Fixx – 25 mg/oz (16 oz = 400 mg) 

Some energy drinks are so high in caffeine they’re served in 1 to 2 ounce “shots.”

Ammo, for example, contains 171 mg, served in a one ounce can. RedLine Power Rush, which comes in a 2.5 oz can, contains 140 mg/oz, giving you the equivalent of about three and a half cups of coffee in one swig.

The symptoms of caffeine intoxication mimic those of anxiety and other mood disorders, and include:

  • Nervousness
  • Anxiety
  • Restlessness
  • Insomnia
  • Gastrointestinal upset
  • Tremors
  • Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia)
  • Psychomotor agitation (restlessness and pacing)
  • In rare cases: death

The Caffeine in Energy Drinks Does Not Necessarily Equate to Plain Coffee

Needless to say, the effects of drinking an energy drink will be similar to that of drinking a cup or three of coffee, in that when the effect wears off you’ll start feeling lethargic and will likely crave another can (or cup) to boost your energy once again.

As many of you likely know, it can become a vicious cycle of jolting and crashing.

However, a problem related specifically to energy drinks is that no one really knows the net effect of chugging energy drinks like you would coffee. Coffee has caffeine, yes, but it does not contain all those other artificial and energy-boosting ingredients that energy drinks contain.

The synergistic effect of ingesting multiple agents in combination can have a vastly different impact compared to each ingredient by itself. And caffeine, in and of itself, already has its disadvantages.

For example, drinking plain coffee on a regular basis may increase your risk of deadly diseases such as stomach cancer and leukemia. And, pregnant women should definitely not consume caffeine.  There is a substantial amount of research showing that it clearly increases their risk of spontaneous abortion.

Caffeine also has other well-documented problems.

For instance, it may interfere with your body’s ability to keep homocysteine and cholesterol levels in check, most likely by inhibiting the action of the vitamins folate, B12 and/or B6. Additionally, coffee has been previously associated with an increased risk of stroke and rheumatoid arthritis.

Are You in a High-Risk Category That Should Avoid Energy Drinks?

It is fairly self-evident that children should never consume these kinds of drinks, but due to the detrimental health impact of their contents, it would definitely be wise to avoid energy drinks if you:

  • Are pregnant or lactating
  • Are sensitive to caffeine
  • Suffer from anxiety
  • Suffer from high stress
  • Suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Have high blood pressure
  • Are predisposed to cardiovascular disease
  • Have any kind of blood clotting disorder

Researchers have previously stated that energy drinks can be deadly when combined with stress or high blood pressure, as it can impair proper blood vessel function and raise your risk of blood clots and stroke.

Caffeine Experts Call for Warning Labels for Energy Drinks

We have a 14-year old soccer player in the house who is constantly badgering us to buy this type of crap. This is not the first article I’ve found on this topic, but thought it might be interesting for others to check out what the docs have to say about this. I’ll also be posting a review of this article by Dr. Mercola. Check out his website at http://www.mercola.com

The follow-up post will be entitled “Dr. Mercola’s comments on energy drinks”

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/10/16/caffeine-experts-call-for-warning-labels-for-energy-drinks.aspx

Scientists who have spent decades researching the effects of caffeine have stated that a slew of caffeinated energy drinks now on the market should carry prominent labels that note caffeine doses and warn of potential health risks for consumers.

Some energy drinks contain the equivalent caffeine of 14 cans of Coca-Cola, yet the amounts are often unlabeled, and few include warnings about the potential health risks of caffeine intoxication.

Caffeine intoxication is marked by nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, gastrointestinal upset, tremors, rapid heartbeats (tachycardia), psychomotor agitation (restlessness and pacing) and in rare cases, death.

A regular 12-ounce cola drink has about 35 milligrams of caffeine, and a 6-ounce cup of brewed coffee has 80 to 150 milligrams of caffeine. But because many energy drinks are marketed as “dietary supplements,” the limit that the FDA requires for soft drinks does not apply. The caffeine content of energy drinks varies from 50 milligrams to more than 500 milligrams.

Ottawa may make millions on CMHC plan for banks

Are we suprised that the Canadian government stands to make millions from this plan? And yet, thousands of employees are term or part-time, programs are being cut and golden parachutes are being readied.
Ottawa may make millions on CMHC plan for banks
The Globe and Mail
Thu 16 Oct 2008
Page: B1
Section: Report On Business: Canadian
Byline: Tara Perkins And Boyd Erman

The federal government stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars off of its new program to buy mortgages from banks.The government today is launching the first purchase of $5-billion of mortgages from Canada’s banks as part of a program to buy $25-billion of home loans from banks to give them cash to make new loans.
It is taking advantage of its ability to borrow cheaply to buy the mortgages, which will pay a higher rate of interest. The difference will be the government’s profit.

Ottawa doesn’t have a forecast of its likely take, but given current market prices and the guidance that the Finance Department has provided to bankers on the prices to be paid, the federal government may expect to earn about $250- million a year. That could rise to $1-billion if the government increases the size of the mortgage purchases to $100-billion, as some in the banking sector suggest could be done.

Those potential profits are significant at a time when Ottawa projects its surplus will fall to $1.3-billion for the year ended March, 2010.

While government officials say any profit isn’t the point, earning money on the program does drive home the message that Ottawa has been sending: The program isn’t a bailout at taxpayers’ expense.

“The goal is not to make money for the government,” said a Finance Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. While the program is an efficient way to support lending in Canada by providing reliable funding to banks, it is important that the banks pay a competitive rate to tap into the funds, the official said.

“This is not a subsidy for banks.”

The credit crunch, which first erupted more than a year ago, has made it more expensive for banks to raise long-term funding to finance mortgages.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the initiative last Friday to have government-owned Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. buy up loans from banks. The loans are solid, but by taking them off bank balance sheets in return for cash, the banks will theoretically be able to make new loans.

Ottawa has committed to buy up to $25-billion in total, but has not yet set the dates for the remaining purchases. Participants expect the government to carry out four more purchases of $5-billion each.

The purchases will be conducted by so-called reverse auction, where banks will essentially have to tell the government how much they will pay in the form of interest to move the loans off their balance sheets. The government will accept the most profitable bids.

Mortgage lenders can submit up to three bids for various amounts, but no one lender can sell more than $1.25-billion of loans to the government.

The government will establish a minimum acceptable yield, or interest rate. That minimum is expected to be above the yield on comparable five-year Canada Mortgage Bonds that CMHC sells to investors.

Banks are expected to place bids somewhere above the minimum, with more- stressed banks giving the government a better deal as they try to ensure they can raise cash.

John Manley, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister, said he was surprised Ottawa didn’t pick up the program earlier.

“They make money on it, it increases liquidity in the system – why don’t you answer the phone when people suggest things?” he said, pointing out that banks had been suggesting the program for some time.

One bank chief executive officer said that, even as the financial crisis worsens, Canada is in a unique position where it can establish programs to ease the flow of funds that don’t put taxpayers on the hook. A shortage of government bonds and an excess of mortgages sitting on the banks’ books make this an easy program to increase if necessary, he said.
 

© 2008 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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