THE MYTH OF ATLANTICA
Why deep integration is bad for Canadians
Fall 2006
— download PDF version —
Atlantica is being promoted as an historical return to
the days before the Maritimes was a part of Canada,
to a time when there were no borders between the
provinces and the United States, and trade flowed freely in a
north-south direction. But it is not a vision of prosperity for
all. Atlantica’s corporate backers are asking for the elimination
of minimum wage laws, a weakening of the role of unions,
and massive reductions in public spending on social programs.
The goal is the deep integration of Eastern Canada with the
North-Eastern United States, and it is part of a larger trend
toward North American integration taking place without any
public input.
What is “deep integration”?
Deep integration is the dismantling of the border between
Canada and the United States. For several years now, a variety
of task forces, working groups, commissions, coordinating
committees and cross-border consultations have been operating
behind closed doors to harmonize Canadian and U.S.
regulations related to our health, food safety, environment,
and our security and immigration procedures. These regulations
were developed to protect the interests of Canadians
but they are being dismantled without public support or knowledge.
What does Atlantica have to do with it?
Atlantica is one of these many cross-border consultations
pushing for deeper integration between Canada and the United
States. Business leaders in both countries are hoping to merge
the economic, social and political needs of Eastern Canada
and Quebec with the U.S. States of Maine, New Hampshire,
Vermont and New York. The aim is to eliminate as many
non-tariff barriers to trade as possible. These include labour
laws, environmental regulations and other public policies that
interfere with corporate profits. The Atlantic Institute for
Market Studies, a key supporter of Atlantica, has stated, “if
the border cannot be made to disappear, its impact must at
least be blurred.”
Who is pushing the integration agenda?
On a national level, deep integration is happening at the request
of Canada’s richest corporations and right-wing think
tanks like the C.D. Howe Institute. Leading the charge is the
Canadian Council of Chief Executives who, in January 2003,
argued for a North American customs union, shared Canada-
U.S. security and immigration strategies, and harmonized
standards, inspection and certification procedures. Almost all
of these ideas ended up in the Security and Prosperity Partnership
of North America, an agreement ratified by Canada,
the U.S. and Mexico in March 2005.
Have your say on deep integration!
Deep integration weakens democracy. Not surprisingly, there
has been little public debate on the subject. Stephen Blank,
professor of international business and keynote speaker at
the 2006 “Reaching Atlantica” conference, even acknowledged
in Embassy magazine last year that, “integration deepens, interdependency
increases, but little support for or understanding
of the process exists.” With public debate, it could be possible
to explore alternatives to deep integration, ones that do
not undermine our public institutions for the sake of corporate
profit.
You can make a difference by writing a letter to
your local MP or community newspaper. Let them know
Canadians will not be kept in the dark on deep integration
any longer!
