# Extend NAFTA To Security, Mulroney Says



## the patriot (17 Dec 2002)

WARNING ORDER: ARTICLE TO FOLLOW
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Dec. 9, 2002. 10:43 PM 

Extend NAFTA to security, Mulroney says
Former PM urges Ottawa to join Washington‘s security orbit

ROBERT RUSSO
CANADIAN PRESS

WASHINGTON â€” Canada must enter into a continental perimeter security deal with the United States if it wants to maintain trade links vital to its prosperity, Brian Mulroney said Monday.

"Our internal borders will only be smart if our external perimeter is secure," the former prime minister said during a conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"We may well need new political institutions such as ministerial councils to heighten vigilance and direct concrete action which gives all of North America more certainty against the unprecedented threat of terrorism."

Mulroney‘s call puts him at odds with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, whose government has balked at the notion of a security perimeter similar to the system used by the European Union. Under such a system, travellers arriving on that continent at any entry point would be screened once and then travel freely between member countries.

The Bush administration has pushed Canada to adopt a common security perimeter by harmonizing its security and immigration laws with those in the United States.

Some of that harmonization has begun, but not to the satisfaction of the United States, which still regards Canada‘s more permissive immigration standards as a security threat.

Tom Ridge, who will head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told Deputy Prime Minister John Manley last week that the Bush administration wants an entry-exit system that will allow American border authorities to closely scrutinize every Canadian trying to enter the United States.

Manley suggested that kind of system would turn U.S. border cities such as Detroit "into parking lots."

Canada‘s economic relationship with the United States depends on reassuring the Bush administration on security matters, Mulroney said after his remarks.

"It‘s indispensable. It‘s a prelude to more intense and vital trade negotiations. Nothing is going to happen in that area unless and until the Americans are satisfied that this important matter is resolved."

Asked if that would require a NAFTA-style agreement on security, he said: "I think so."

Mulroney remains an influential figure in Canada-U.S. relations.

His close relationship with the Bush family was cemented while he led Canada and George Bush, father of the current president, was in the White House. The two leaders formed a friendship that went far beyond their official duties and has endured over the decade since the elder Bush left the White House.

Bush referred to the importance of that relationship when the two men were negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement along with Mexico‘s Carlos Salinas.

"They didn‘t bawl me out," Bush told the conference, hesitating a moment before adding: "Well, Brian did a couple of times."

Mulroney has criticized Chrétien for his handling of U.S.-Canadian relations, pointing repeatedly to the current prime minister‘s attacks on him for his close relationships to U.S. presidents.

That kind of personal diplomacy at the summit is not only fruitful, it‘s compulsory, he said.

"It‘s the only way big things happen. I would encourage the prime minister and his colleagues to keep that in mind when they deal with the White House."

A perimeter security arrangement might be made more difficult given Canada‘s slashing of its defence budget in the years since he left office, Mulroney said. But the security and economic stakes made finding the money for the project imperative.

"Our contribution (to defence spending) as a percentage of GDP has declined dramatically in the last decade. That‘s regrettable. We‘re just going to have to marshal the resources to get it done; otherwise, we will not be part of an organization that is vital for us." 
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As usual, Mr. Mulroney‘s ideas have done more harm than good to the military.  In the grand scheme of things, we already have economic integration with the United States.  With his proposal in mind we will have the beginning of complete military integration with the U.S.  Thus, eventually one day leading to the possibility  of a political union with the U.S.  What this basically means is that Canada would become the 51st state of the United States of America.  Bravo morons!!!     

-the patriot-


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