Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The North American Super State

First is the establishment of Northcom in 2002 which includes Canada in its area of responsibility (AOR).  NORAD is a sister organization having the same commander and same headquarters building (at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs).  The deputy commander of NORAD is always a Canadian Lt. General.  The voices protesting against the violation of Canadian sovereignty have largely been silenced or ignored. "Concerns about Canadian sovereignty and independence have given way to the close Canada–US defence relationship, the “defence against help” argument, and the presence of a common threat."  The Canadian branch of NORAD is headquartered at CFB Winnipeg.  The truth is that Northcom/NORAD is a joint US-Canadian military force, with Americans in charge, that can operate anywhere on US or Canadian soil.

Second of course is NAFTA, which seems fine except for the presence of NAFTA-specific institutions such as the NAFTA tribunal, which claims appellate jurisdiction over cases decided under US law.
The availability of this additional layer of review, above even the United States Supreme Court, is a significant development, legal scholars said. ''It's basically been under the radar screen,'' Peter Spiro, a law professor at Hofstra University, said. ''But it points to a fundamental reorientation of our constitutional system. You have an international tribunal essentially reviewing American court judgments.'' The part of Nafta that created the tribunals, known as Chapter 11, received no consideration when it was passed in 1993.
--NY Times
Third, is the establishment of a proto-government called the "North American Initiative", as shown by a recent wikileaked 2005 document. The "Security and Prosperity Partnership" was founded in 2005 by George Bush, Paul Martin and Vincente Fox, but it has since been shelved.  A new version of this is called "Beyond the Border" or Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) and was signed on February 4, 2011 by President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

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