In Pursuit Of Happiness.

Canada has pushed for free trade, NAFTA, and now the expansion of that into the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). And now there are, slowly, the rumblings of even more integration and union with our neighbors in the hemisphere-particularly America and Mexico.

Canada has regularly been labeled the best country on earth in which to live by various people and organizations-actually seven years running by the UN’s count. But our dollar is worth about $.66 in the US on a good day, just before our national holiday celebration we celebrate tax freedom day on June 29th (the day we begin to work for ourselves after paying our ‘fair’ share of taxes), and our blessed universal healthcare system forces people to wait up to a year for hip replacement surgery.

Other than that it is a beautiful country. But why wouldn’t we want to expand our success with greater freedom of movement for our people, our businesses and our money?

We are already 13-years into a free trade agreement with the United States, and eight more with Mexico. What’s next? Will Canada move to an even closer relationship akin to the European Union?

I have often voiced my displeasure with the European Union. Not so much for the idea of it, but rather in the European’s particular execution of something so complex. If the European Union is really an attempt to create a new entity, a super state known as Europe, then they are doing it all wrong.

If they are making a ‘United States of Europe’ they have no Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, or Franklin to ensure that it upholds freedom rather than socialist tyranny. But there does not seem to be any debate as to what form a new Europe will look like. This is not exactly surprising given the current elite of Europe penchant for moving ahead no matter what the people really want.

Likewise, if Canada is to in the future join some larger political unit we too need to be aware of the dangers.

This talk is probably premature and many believe that if any discussions were to take place now the majority of Canadians would probably say no-it is just not on the political radar for most people.

But there are current problems and future problems to develop that would be served by creating a North America that blurs the borders between the Canada-US-Mexico trading block. In fact it would benefit workers and corporations that could work through less red tape.

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