Dr. Robert A. Pastor's opinion editorial on the North
American Summit was published in The Globe and Mail
and Focal Point, the electronic newsletter of the
Canadian Foundation for the Americas. Below is the
full text of his op-ed, as published in the August
2007 Special Edition of Focal Point.
A thick layer of confusion surrounds the three leaders
of North America -- Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President George W.
Bush, and Mexican President Felipe Calder -- as they meet at
Montebello, Quebec on August
20-21.
The three countries are exceptionally important to
each other, and the annual summit is a recognition
of that fact. And yet, by their silence or
defensiveness, they have allowed the relationship to
be defined by an extremist fringe that fears any
cooperative initiative is a slippery slope toward the
dissolution of sovereignty.
One could expect that Canadians and Mexicans -- the
weaker partners -- would be wary of a North
American embrace. There are groups in both countries
that express such fears, but the most vociferous have
emerged in the United States, and they have attacked
the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), first
enunciated by the three governments' leaders in March
2005, as tantamount to treason.
The movement has emerged from the shards of a
poisonous immigration debate and the fears of job
loss due to globalization. Lou Dobbs of CNN and
talk show radio hosts have spoken of SPP as a
grand conspiracy for a "North American Union." They
view the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
report, Building a North American Community, as the
roadmap to perdition, and the so-called NAFTA
super-highway as its main corridor. (In the
interest of full disclosure, I was Vice Chair of the
CFR study group and am often cited as the
"Architect of the North American Union" though I have
never proposed it.)
Sadly, the Bush Administration and many Republicans
have been intimidated by the criticism. Republican
Senator John Cornyn sponsored a bill for a "North
American Investment Fund" as the best long-term
strategy to narrow the income gap with Mexico, and
thus, in the longterm, stop illegal migration. But
under assault from the right, Cornyn abandoned his
proposal.
Even the U.S. government website on North America
(spp.gov) displays an acute defensiveness, denying
right-wing charges without bothering to make the case
for North American cooperation. Under pressure from
the labour unions, the Democratic Presidential
candidates are no better, stuck in the NAFTA debate of
a decade ago and apparently blind to the new North
American agenda.
The Summit in Montebello should be very important. The
agenda for North American cooperation is overflowing
with issues that have been neglected or mishandled for
a decade. This includes border and continental
security; narrowing the income gap with Mexico;
facilitating legitimate travel and immigration and
stopping illegal traffic; eliminating rules-of-origin
with a customs union; promoting education on North
American issues; preventing cartel-like behaviour in
the enlarged North American market while reducing the
unnecessary discrepancy on regulations; developing a
plan for North American infrastructure and
transportation; and establishing better procedures and
institutions to facilitate cooperation on environment
and labour.
Instead of tackling this agenda, the three leaders
have identified a few issues -- Avian
flu,emergency management, and a new regulatory
framework -- and practically the only ones
invited to the meeting are the CEOs of some of the
largest corporations.
While it is important for the bureaucracies of the
three countries to work together, and while the
CEOs are probably doing some good work, the SPP
process is fundamentally flawed.
As a quiet, if not secretive process involving CEOs,
the SPP has provoked suspicions and deepseated
fears not just from fringe groups, but also from
mainstream labour, environmentalists and consumers.
By trying to keep the issues "below the radar screen"
of public debate, they have left a message
that the U.S. Congress has no role, which is both
absurd and counter-productive, as illustrated by the
recent passage by overwhelming majorities of
Congressional amendments aimed to stop the SPP and
prevent Mexican trucks from entering the United
States.
The three leaders need to use the Summit to speak to
their people -- not just to their bureaucrats and
CEOs -- and explain why North America
already represents the most formidable regional
trading area in the world with a gross product larger
than the 27-member European Union.
They need to help the public understand why all will
benefit from increased cooperation and
integration. President Bush especially needs to
explain to the American people that Canada and
Mexico are our most important trading partners,
sources of energy, and our closest friends.
Ironically, despite the criticism, public opinion
surveys taken by Ekos in 2003 show that a plurality
of the public in all three countries believe
free trade benefits all the countries; a strong
majority believe in a common security perimeter and
want the three governments to coordinate policy on the
environment, transportation, and defence.
A majority in all three countries favoured an economic
union if they felt it would improve their
standard of living and not harm their culture or the
environment. In brief, the leaders could tap into this
quieter majority if they chose to lead.
Whatever the three leaders actually do in Montebello,
there will be protests that they are doing too much,
but the real problem is that they are doing too
little.
It is commendable to have an agreement on Avian Flu,
but this is inadequate to the task of making
North America more secure, prosperous, competitive
and cooperative. What the leaders should do is
articulate a vision of a North American Community and
sketch a blueprint for accomplishing it.
Robert A. Pastor is Director of the Center for North
American Studies at American University in Washington,
D.C. and author of Toward a North American Community:
Lessons from the Old World for the New.