NAU - Just throwing this out there

[Canadian Mind]

North American Union

Just throwing this out there, what are peoples opinions?

Do we want this?
What would be the benefits?
What are the Cons?
Will this end up like NAFTA? Broken promises, failed policies, didn't work the way it was suppost to, etc.
Will there be unofficial classes, where Americans (or Canadians) are held to a higher standard compared to each other plus Mexicians?


"[A] $200-billion North American Investment Fund, is for the purpose of narrowing the income disparity between Mexico, on the one hand, and the U.S. and Canada, on the other. "You need a lot of money to do it and do it effectively," he said. He said Mexico would be required to put up half of the money, with the U.S. contributing 40 percent and Canada 10 percent."

Why would Americans contribute only 4 times as much as us when they have 9-10 times the population? Opinions on that particular quote.




I know NAU has likely been brought up before, but I've never seen it. I'd rather this be a discussion amongst ourselves about it rather than commenting about the article.

[Calgarian]

Bad idea, we are associated with the US too much as it is. We don't really need to group together, as the EU did, just to survive. Maybe in 20 years when China and India become more of an economic powerhouse than they currently are, but for now things are fine the way they are.

[SpongeG]

I think its inevitable that it will happen

the benefits:
being able to retire to a warmer climate
stronger currency when travelling abroad

i really don't think much about it - but I do cross the border a lot as pretty much everything is so much cheaper down there

[Archiseek]

cue sounds of lots of emigrants buggering off because if they had wanted to emigrate to the great satan, they would have.....

[Canadian Mind]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I think its inevitable that it will happen

the benefits:
being able to retire to a warmer climate
stronger currency when travelling abroad

i really don't think much about it - but I do cross the border a lot as pretty much everything is so much cheaper down there

2 questions: why can't you retire down there anyways, and a stronger currency just means less cash at home does it not? and who's to say our currency will become as strong or stronger than the US dollar if we merge?

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

2 questions: why can't you retire down there anyways, and a stronger currency just means less cash at home does it not? and who's to say our currency will become as strong or stronger than the US dollar if we merge?

cause we can only spend 6 months out of the country before we lose our medical benefits etc.

my parents have many friends who spend the winters down in arizona and spend the summers up here

I guess thats good enough but having to maintain two residences etc...

well i imagine like the European union and the euro we would adopt one common currency and assume it would be as strong as the US dollar thus eliminating the US dollar and the peso and the Canadian dollar

thus we would have a better currency if we were combined as a union the way the euro has become so strong...

[Distill3d]

if it means passport free travel between canada and all other countries involved, i'm in. if it means one currency (AND NOT the US Dollar), lets do it.

a NAU would only work if we follow the EU model. this will not happen because the USA is too proud to allow it to happen.

its a nice dream, but...in the end we're all getting screwwed.

[ibz]

I think the biggest question is what would the USA have to gain from such a union? Probably not a whole lot at this point.

[flar]

I will never live under the heel of Uncle Sam

[vid]

Look at what NAFTA has done for us. Do we want more? I don't.

[SpongeG]

I think what the USA would gain is being part of a strong union that compete on the global stage as it slowly loses its position

[vid]

The US isn't losing population. They gain every year what Canada has gained in the last Decade.

[Calgarian]

Position not population

[flar]

I think the question is what would Canada gain from this?

Having such a comparatively small population, how much say would we have in anything? We would lose any ability to control our destiny.
We would become even more complicit in the much reviled American foreign policy, and this would invite the hatred of terrorists.
Would we inherit America's crumbling public education system and social policy?
How long would our medicare last?
Do we really want to become the dog eat dog society the the US is?

Is it worth it just so we can have a bit more spending power and travel to Florida without a passport?

[Boris2k7]

^ Wow, REACTIONARY!

The matter is not 'if' there is such a union, but 'when,' 'what,' and 'how?'

A full political union is highly unlikely, given the divergence between American and Canadian social policies. More likely it would be a harmonization of some economic and border policies, a common currency, a boost to NORAD and shared defence, etc. We know it is eventually going to happen, what we need to figure out is how we would position ourselves in such a union and what the structure of said union would look like.

I really don't think it is as radical as some people seem to suggest.

[Kevin_foster]

Canada would gain nothing from this....

Have you even looked into the negative deficit the USA runs?? One day it's going to crash hard, and I really hate to think so, but if you look at the figures - it's almost inevitable the country is headed for (very) hard times... whether it be in 200 years, or whether it be as quick and hard as what we saw in the dirty 30's (albeit under different conditions).

It's not really a sovereignty issue here - it's an economic issue. Would we want to pear up with such a beast that could one day fall and affect everyone associated with it?

God I sound too way "glass half empty"....

I say, let's stick with what we've created here. We're doing pretty damned good (less the debts we owe), and strive to be better - not amalgamate. We are so closely tied to the country already - we should be heading in the opposite direction.... IMO.

[vid]

"God I sound too way "glass half empty".... "

Well, if you're like me, you live in a poor city. In which case, that glass is probably paper. Rip the top third off, and voilà! Cup two-thirds full!

Considering 8-+% of our trade is with America, that crash will effect us either way. Might as well minimize the damage as much as possible.

[malek]

you guys bitch at some (one) provinces getting some equalization money, now you're talking about sending some to some other country??

hehehehehe

[ScottFromCalgary]

Originally Posted by malek

you guys bitch at some (one) provinces getting some equalization money, now you're talking about sending some to some other country??

hehehehehe

Well at least the states are self sufficient and don't have to subsidize the weaker parts of the country. Sure it creates some massive shit holes, but some parts of the country are as good as it gets.

[ScottFromCalgary]

Originally Posted by vid

Look at what NAFTA has done for us. Do we want more? I don't.

At least NAFTA has helped Alberta by decreasing restrictions on energy exports and trading while allowing us to import cheaper goods from Mexico. It's been pretty much win-win here.