Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Idea alert

by Aaron Wherry on Friday, February 11, 2011 11:36am - 37 Comments

Conservative Senator Hugh Segal proposes a North American community.

Segal outlines several goals the North American Community could accomplish: - Enhanced market size and trading opportunities for Canadian companies, employees and investors with fewer trade barriers. - A continentwide commitment to economic and social development, through which models such as Canada’s equalization program could be applied elsewhere. - Co-operation in environmental, social and military activities that help nations face “threats” and “challenges” that cross borders. - The creation of a North American Assembly, similar to the European Parliament in its early days.

Segal believes the assembly could take the shape of a place where politicians who are already elected in their own nations regularly gather to share “best practices” and work together. The question of whether it should ever become a directly elected body could up be for discussion in the White Paper.

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  • Emily

    Hugh Segal – still bravely trying to lose the War of 1812.

    • Cats

      It was a draw.

      Which is what this proposal sounds like.

      Cats away!

      • Emily

        Well, now we know you're an American cat.

      • Merrill S

        The US invaded Canada with the goal of conquest. Canada is still a separate country. The invasion failed. The US lost. There was no draw. The only significant battle US forces won was New Orleans, weeks after the war had ended.

        • TimesArrow

          Too true. If you don't gain your objective in warfare you have by definition lost.

        • MostlyCivil

          Also, it's hard to properly invade a country when you can't convince your own soldiers to cross the river…

          But the real way to tell who won? As part of the treaty to end the war, we made them take back Detroit. Honest.

          • Holly Stick

            And we burned down the White House. As for Parliament, well, it burned down all by itself, without needing a war.

          • Cats

            And then we lost several important battles.

            Then the war ended in a draw with neither side gaining territory.

            ALTHOUGH the US got fishing rights. So they didn't come out of it empty handed.

            So technically they won the war but fishing rights are pretty inconsequential.

            Draw it is Cats.

          • MostlyCivil

            "So technically they won the war but fishing rights are pretty inconsequential"

            So much wrong in one sentence.

          • LdKitchenersOwn

            Then the war ended in a draw with neither side gaining territory.

            If you start a war with the goal of gaining territory (like the U.S. did in the War of 1812) and you don't gain any territory then you lost the war.

    • Dave

      "There's only one line he'd change."

  • briguyhfx

    Heard on the floor of the North American Community parliament: "Order, Order! We shall now hear from the lone representative for Canada…"

    • McC_

      We could be like DC and Puerto Rico!

  • Gary

    "A continentwide commitment to economic and social development, through which models such as Canada’s equalization program could be applied elsewhere. "

    Alberta is to pay for this as well with the help of Texas? Those dirty petro dollars are good for something I guess?

    • MostlyCivil

      Alberta? You mean Northern Montana, right?

      • Gary

        Sure, whatever. We have more in common with our neighbors in Montana than with the ROC, except perhaps Saskatchewan.

        • TimesArrow

          If you take a close look at Saskatchewan it has not that much in common with AB, certainly not politically.

          • McC_

            they both have three or more right angles in their borders, wheat in their flags, vowels "e" and "a" in their name, 2 rival cities, a knack for growing decent defencemen… add it all up TimesArrow, they're pretty much the same place!

          • MostlyCivil

            Actually, using the term "Rest of Canada" pretty much gives you something in common with every province in the country. We're all convinced we're unique. It's quite Canadian.

  • McC_

    a white paper? how quaint.

    • TimesArrow

      Off the top of your head when was the last one? The only one i can remember was the 1969 Chretien/Trudeau white paper on the dismantling of the indian act, and we know ho that was received.

      • McC_

        that's probably the most famous, but it is the term for any big "think piece" or new policy frameworks prduced by the government on an important issue. Technically, the government is still producing them and you can access a list on the Parliament website (I'll try to post a link in the reply, but they usually get blocked), but these are not the same "think pieces" they once were (I'll leave it to the readers to decide whether this is a godd thing or a bad thing). For example, Canada's Blue Sky Policy is 4 pages long with very little text, and the Northern Strategy is a 43 slide Powerpoint deck…

        • McC_

          Here's a definition, and from here you can link to the list of all of them going back to Budget 1939: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/pages/WhitePapers…

          • TimesArrow

            Thanks for that. S. Delacourt has an interesting piece over on her blog on why we may have adopted the wrong model of governance [ consumer sovereignty vs citizenship] as far as generating big ideas goes. Can't link for some reason, but the link is embedded in her piece on the proposed border security deal.

  • http://dougsamu.wordpress.com dougrogers

    Why would we want to hitch our wagon to a fading, past -peak Imperialist Empire?

    • McC_

      because we asked the fading, past -peak empires in Europe, but they insisted that we give up seal meat in favour of their delicious cheese.

      • http://dougsamu.wordpress.com dougrogers

        Give up a self sustaining resource based economy for imported Stilton? Why be another colony again?

        • McC_

          I like cheese.

          • http://dougsamu.wordpress.com dougrogers

            Living off governent cheese, you brie sucking lefty… Go kill your own food with your bare hands Iike a true Canadian.

      • Dave

        Can't we compromise? Seal cheese!

        • Crit_Reasoning

          Do you have any idea how hard it is to milk a seal?

          • McC_

            value-added!

          • http://dougsamu.wordpress.com dougrogers

            creates jobs

  • http://notquiteunhinged.blogspot.com Catelli

    Hugh Segal can french-kiss my my bright white Canadian derriere.

  • http://www.cdfai.org/the3dsblog/ MarkOttawa

    Related at the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute's "3Ds Blog":

    "LGen (Ret’d) George Macdonald – Expand NORAD" http://www.cdfai.org/the3dsblog/?p=102

    And see the second comment here:

    "NATO’s Secretary General may Have a Message for Canada Too" http://www.cdfai.org/the3dsblog/?p=96#comments

    Mark
    Ottawa

  • frobisher

    Sounds like a winner. The Conservatives should run on this brain f@rt of Mr. Segal's. After all, according to Ms. LeBreton, the Senate only reflects the policy of the party.

  • wellwell

    Hugh, don't you think you've done enough troughing? How greedy can you be?

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