from MIM Notes 275
Concerned with the poor trade situation and border-crossing difficulties since September 11th, 2001, the Kanadian capitalist class has proposed that Canada surrender on issues such as borders and immigration in order to obtain better business and trade relations with the united $tates. Currently, the Kanadians are seriously disturbed by difficulties in their soft-lumber exports to the united $tates and truckers want to see improved and eased procedures for border-crossing.
MIM opposes the merger of the united $tates and English-speaking Canada, as it would extend the reach of Amerika's reactionary immigration policies.
Recent discussion started with a January report by the "Canadian Council of Chief Executives" representing Kanada's top 150 companies and led by Tom D'Aquino. The organization of Kanadian CEOs is saying that it's not worth arguing with the united $tates over immigration and security issues. The CEOs would like the border to become an "internal checkpoint," not a real border. D'Aquino pointed out that "The world's largest two-way trading relationship was paralyzed,"(1) after September 11th when the united $tates virtually closed borders with Mexico and Kanada to search for "terrorists." One bourgeois mouthpiece rehashing the argument put it this way: "The United States will defend its security through much tougher border controls after Sept. 11. Given Canada's enormous economic integration with the United States, we need to be within those borders, or risk our standard of living," says William Thorsell writing for the Globe and Mail on January 20th.(2) In order to get on the good side of Uncle $am, the Kanadians have realized that they can only offer doing things Uncle $am's way: "we hear calls from Canadian business for a common security perimeter around North America, fleshed out with a common customs union. We presume that, in return for some shared laws and enforcement at North America's border, the Canada-U.S. border would become much more casual,"(2) says Thorsell. That means "joint patrol" of the borders so that the two sides both know what is happening and can trust each other's judgements, since their policies will be one and the same. Thorsell adds, "Many Canadians live part-time now in the United States and have family, friend and love interests there. Beyond economics, an officious, viscous border is incompatible with the human relations that span it so robustly. A "checkpoint border" would reflect more accurately who we really are in North America, not just what we want to earn. And in any case, no one in Canada should be under an illusion that our domestic security interest is separate from that of the Americans. As Osama bin Laden remarked himself in December, it isn't."(2) Contributing to the weak-knees of the Kanadian bourgeoisie is the relative success of the European Union, which has adopted one currency and in many regards already has very casual borders internally. It would seem to some that the rest of the imperialist world is amalgamating while Kanada allows itself to fall behind in the game of economic alliances to promote economic competition. A likely future prime minister and friend of George Bush named Paul Martin says that the old way of doing things is sufficient in Kanada. Martin says Kanada must increase cross-border cooperation on terrorism, but that the border works and allows trade.(3)
Political reality is that the u.$. imperialists would not integrate with Mexico the way some Kanadians are suggesting that Kanada and the united $tates merge. Nonetheless, some of the pro- business wing have suggested that Kanada put forward proposals to unite Mexico, the United $tates and Kanada in one customs union. Although such proposals would make the united $tates seem outnumbered two to one and might assuage Kanadian national feelings, however weak they may be, the net effect of such proposals probably just softens Kanadian public opinion for U.$. takeover. Nothing is liable to happen on the Mexico front any time soon: "Mexico would be invited to join the Canada-U.S. pact but not for some time because of security concerns."(4) MIM will translate: the united $tates is too busy super-exploiting Mexicans and does not deign to treat them equally with u.$. citizens, as would be necessary with the easy border-crossings proposed by the Kanadian CEOs. One possible scenario would see English-speaking Kanada push for Anschluss with the united $tates (as openly threatened by one young reactionary pundit supporting the Republicans on the TV show "Crossfire," when teased by a Kanadian about spending so much time reducing freedoms in order to hunt "terrorists.") Then Quebec may fall away into its own nation and the First Nations would also step up their struggles for their interests. As MIM showed in "Kanada knows it is Amerikkkan," in the October 15th, 2002 MIM Notes, 80% of Kanadians do not believe they have any cultural difference with the united $tates. Yet despite this fact, almost all parties calling themselves "communist" believe that Kanada is a separate nation while there are no separate Black, Aztlan, Asian-descended and First Nations. Again, we at MIM ask these people: why do you see a separate Kanadian nation and premise separate vanguard parties on that basis, but you do not see any for the peoples of color historically oppressed by the dominant nation in North America? Material reality shows that there is less basis for seeing an actual Kanadian nation than for the First Nations, Black, Aztlan, Asian-descended and other nations inside North America. The Kanadian bourgeoisie could easily pack it in, especially after another round of terrorist attacks and border clampdowns by the united $tates. The Kanadian bourgeoisie faces much less difficulty than that of the oppressed nations when it comes to handling the united $tates.
Notes:
1. National Post 17Jan2003, http://www.nationalpost.com/financialpost/story.ht ml?id=%7B3447E83E-4170-45E9-A104-DF45D8304163%7D.
2. Globe and Mail 20Jan2003, p. a15.
3. David Crane, "How would Martin safeguard our independence?" http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035776770719&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851
4. Oliver Bertin, "CEOs urging stronger ties to U.S.," Globe and Mail 15Jan2003, p. b3.