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What's so bad about Bilderberg? Stuart Trew - Ottawa x Press June 19, 2006 Bilderberg meeting or not, there was no way I was heading out to Kanata last weekend to scream at black limos about genetically modified crops and war with Iran. I don't care what they - Richard Perle, Frank McKenna, David Rockefeller, etc. - talked about behind closed doors; I can live with that kind of secrecy. Despite best guesses from right- and left-wing conspiracy theorists, there is only circumstantial evidence proving these disgustingly wealthy Bilderbergers have any influence over government policies in any country. The equally secretive North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), on the other hand, has far too much power. The NACC came out of well-publicized but ultimately hush-hush conversations between Stephen Harper, George W. Bush and Mexican president Vicente Fox in Cancún earlier this year. Those talks were part of that whole "three amigos" thing they're calling the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America, which in media and John Manley fairyland helps people and commodities cross borders freely and quickly while stopping terrorists in their tracks. A different picture emerges when you leaf through the SPP's "Prosperity Agenda" (www.spp.gov). It turns out "people" actually means "business persons within North America." The rest of us are "human capital" to be developed in line with continental corporate imperatives. Also annoying is the part about "regulatory co-operation," which means both "eliminating redundant testing and certification requirements" on all goods, including food and drugs, and avoiding new regulation altogether. Biotech companies are big on this idea because it means they can test new "foods" in the market rather than proving they're safe for consumption beforehand. New to the "agenda" this year is this aforementioned North American Competitiveness Council, created amazingly to increase "private sector engagement in the SPP by adding high-level business input." The Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), who basically wrote the entire SPP on their own, called the new council an important step towards "enhancing the competitive position of North American industries in the global marketplace." The goal is to compete with economic heavyweights India and China, neither of which is known for its stringent labour or environmental laws. We can compete, says the CCCE, by drastically reducing corporate and income taxes. Not discussed is the resulting lack of funding for benefits like public health care, which recently lured Toyota to Ontario despite several U.S. states promising the company hundreds of millions in incentives. Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com In other words, a limited number of CEOs from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are currently deciding what kind of countries their "human capital" will have to live in. They had Paul Martin's ear, they have Stephen Harper's, and they are purposely keeping the conversation as secret as possible for obvious politically sensitive reasons: Continental competitiveness means a lot more than lower taxes. "At the top of a new and invigorated agenda should be the negotiation of a comprehensive initiative aimed at erasing remaining trade, investment and regulatory barriers between the two countries," says an excerpt from the CCCE publication Northern Edge: How Canadians Can Triumph in the Global Economy. Going back to the biotech example, that means mega-U.S. "agri-food" companies buying up the entire Prairies. "The agenda must also take into account the reality of convergence," continues the corporate wet dream. "Foreign policy, security and immigration issues must be incorporated into the overarching strategy for dealing with the United States." I can handle Bilderberg. But the SPP? Most of our MPs don't even know the details. So to the protesters who waited outside Kanata's Brookstreet Hotel last weekend waiting to catch a hateful glimpse of Henry Kissinger: Why don't you stop stuffing XPress boxes with your hysterical posters and write Harper a goddamned letter or something? SPEAKING OF SECRECY: Having fed the public their case against 17 suspected terrorists from Toronto, CSIS and the RCMP will now fight defence lawyers behind the blanket of a publication ban. For those still following the news - and I'm afraid I'll drop out any day now - that probably means a long hot summer of racist commentary. It's extremely worrying that this high-profile bust could prejudice the Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of Canada's security certificate process. And it's disgusting that while the press considers Madonna's new touring outfit from H&M in between exaggerations of homegrown holy terror, the 17 men they've found guilty are already being deprived of food and sleep like animals. What the fuck are we going to tell our children? XXX The North American Competitiveness Council is born! A day after finishing this column, Harper quietly announced the Canadian members of this new Competitiveness Council. Not surprisingly, 9 out of 10 are members of the CCCE, an elite group of Canada's richest CEOs with a stated goal of integrating the Canadian and American economies. They talk a good talk about Canada's dropping productivity compared with the U.S., blaming our high taxes until they're blue in the face. In fact, Canada's top corporate leaders simply can't compete with their American counterparts and, according to recent news reports, soak up a disproportionate amount of company profits instead of reinvesting in new technology that would help them become more productive. In alphabetical order, they are: Dominic D'Alessandro (Manulife Financial); Paul Desmarais, Jr. (Power Corporation of Canada); David Ganong (Ganong Bros. Limited); Richard George (Suncor Energy Inc.); Hunter Harrison (CN); Linda Hasenfratz (Linamar Corporation); Michael Sabia (Bell Canada Enterprises); Jim Shepherd (Canfor Corporation); Annette Verschuren (The Home Depot); and Rick Waugh (Scotiabank). About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Weekly Features Archive
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What's so bad about Bilderberg?

Stuart Trew - Ottawa x Press
June 19, 2006

Commentary Bilderberg meeting or not, there was no way I was heading out to Kanata last weekend to scream at black limos about genetically modified crops and war with Iran. I don't care what they - Richard Perle, Frank McKenna, David Rockefeller, etc. - talked about behind closed doors; I can live with that kind of secrecy.

Despite best guesses from right- and left-wing conspiracy theorists, there is only circumstantial evidence proving these disgustingly wealthy Bilderbergers have any influence over government policies in any country. The equally secretive North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), on the other hand, has far too much power.

The NACC came out of well-publicized but ultimately hush-hush conversations between Stephen Harper, George W. Bush and Mexican president Vicente Fox in Cancún earlier this year. Those talks were part of that whole "three amigos" thing they're calling the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America, which in media and John Manley fairyland helps people and commodities cross borders freely and quickly while stopping terrorists in their tracks.

A different picture emerges when you leaf through the SPP's "Prosperity Agenda" (www.spp.gov). It turns out "people" actually means "business persons within North America." The rest of us are "human capital" to be developed in line with continental corporate imperatives.

Also annoying is the part about "regulatory co-operation," which means both "eliminating redundant testing and certification requirements" on all goods, including food and drugs, and avoiding new regulation altogether. Biotech companies are big on this idea because it means they can test new "foods" in the market rather than proving they're safe for consumption beforehand.

New to the "agenda" this year is this aforementioned North American Competitiveness Council, created amazingly to increase "private sector engagement in the SPP by adding high-level business input." The Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), who basically wrote the entire SPP on their own, called the new council an important step towards "enhancing the competitive position of North American industries in the global marketplace."

The goal is to compete with economic heavyweights India and China, neither of which is known for its stringent labour or environmental laws. We can compete, says the CCCE, by drastically reducing corporate and income taxes. Not discussed is the resulting lack of funding for benefits like public health care, which recently lured Toyota to Ontario despite several U.S. states promising the company hundreds of millions in incentives.

Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com

In other words, a limited number of CEOs from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are currently deciding what kind of countries their "human capital" will have to live in. They had Paul Martin's ear, they have Stephen Harper's, and they are purposely keeping the conversation as secret as possible for obvious politically sensitive reasons:

Continental competitiveness means a lot more than lower taxes.

"At the top of a new and invigorated agenda should be the negotiation of a comprehensive initiative aimed at erasing remaining trade, investment and regulatory barriers between the two countries," says an excerpt from the CCCE publication Northern Edge: How Canadians Can Triumph in the Global Economy. Going back to the biotech example, that means mega-U.S. "agri-food" companies buying up the entire Prairies.

"The agenda must also take into account the reality of convergence," continues the corporate wet dream. "Foreign policy, security and immigration issues must be incorporated into the overarching strategy for dealing with the United States."

I can handle Bilderberg. But the SPP? Most of our MPs don't even know the details. So to the protesters who waited outside Kanata's Brookstreet Hotel last weekend waiting to catch a hateful glimpse of Henry Kissinger: Why don't you stop stuffing XPress boxes with your hysterical posters and write Harper a goddamned letter or something?

SPEAKING OF SECRECY: Having fed the public their case against 17 suspected terrorists from Toronto, CSIS and the RCMP will now fight defence lawyers behind the blanket of a publication ban. For those still following the news - and I'm afraid I'll drop out any day now - that probably means a long hot summer of racist commentary. It's extremely worrying that this high-profile bust could prejudice the Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of Canada's security certificate process. And it's disgusting that while the press considers Madonna's new touring outfit from H&M in between exaggerations of homegrown holy terror, the 17 men they've found guilty are already being deprived of food and sleep like animals. What the fuck are we going to tell our children?

XXX

The North American Competitiveness Council is born!

A day after finishing this column, Harper quietly announced the Canadian members of this new Competitiveness Council. Not surprisingly, 9 out of 10 are members of the CCCE, an elite group of Canada's richest CEOs with a stated goal of integrating the Canadian and American economies. They talk a good talk about Canada's dropping productivity compared with the U.S., blaming our high taxes until they're blue in the face. In fact, Canada's top corporate leaders simply can't compete with their American counterparts and, according to recent news reports, soak up a disproportionate amount of company profits instead of reinvesting in new technology that would help them become more productive. In alphabetical order, they are: Dominic D'Alessandro (Manulife Financial); Paul Desmarais, Jr. (Power Corporation of Canada); David Ganong (Ganong Bros. Limited); Richard George (Suncor Energy Inc.); Hunter Harrison (CN); Linda Hasenfratz (Linamar Corporation); Michael Sabia (Bell Canada Enterprises); Jim Shepherd (Canfor Corporation); Annette Verschuren (The Home Depot); and Rick Waugh (Scotiabank).

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