Canada, U.S. agree to use each other’s troops in civil emergencies
Did you hear about this? I sure didn’t. Which is surprising as I read six newspapers and several dozen news RSS feeds a day. Sounds like our governments were purposefully trying to keep this secret, too. From the Ottawa Citizen on February 22, 2008:
Canada and the U.S. have signed an agreement that paves the way for the militaries from either nation to send troops across each other’s borders during an emergency, but some are questioning why the Harper government has kept silent on the deal. Neither the Canadian government nor the Canadian Forces announced the new agreement, which was signed Feb. 14 in Texas.
This is probably part of the overarching Security and Prosperity Partnership regulatory changes that are purposefully being kept both out of parliament and the public sphere.
Canada’s 2008 Tory-minority Budget includes $29-million for meeting “priorities under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.” Without looking too deeply I wasn’t able to determine what these priorities were, not surprising in the SPP’s non-constitutional execution. Other sercurity provisions regarding border relations include:
- Committing $75 million over two years to ensure the Canada Border Services Agency has the resources it needs to effectively manage the border.
- Introducing a higher-security electronic passport by 2011.
- Doubling the validity period of Canadian passports to 10 years when this electronic passport is launched.
- Providing $14 million over two years to expand the joint Canada-United States NEXUS program for low-risk frequent travellers across the border.
- Providing $6 million over two years for federal activities to support provinces and territories planning to introduce enhanced driver’s licences.
- Allocating $26 million over two years to introduce the use of biometric data into visas issued to foreign nationals entering Canada.
- Providing $15 million over two years to establish a permanent facility to enhance the security of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway region.
In Bush’s State of the Union address, he indicated that the next SPP meeting would be held in New Orleans. Yes, THAT New Orleans. This is an unfortunate placement that clearly links the performance of U.S. authorities to one of the most horrific failures of public service and security in contemporary Western history. Do we really want the profiteering criminals responsible for the atrocious failures of the Hurricane Katrina response and public fire-sale to take over in the event of an emergency in Canada?
I do not want the help of the American military during a crisis. They’ve demonstrated a serious inability to help their own while allowing certain American businesses to profit on human suffering. I can’t imagine why things would be any better in Canada.
Oh, and Mr. Harper, it would be real swell if you let us know what you were up to every now and then. Especially when it’s something unbelievably stupid and dangerous like this.
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