The drive to absorb America into a single “North American Union” (NAU) modeled after the European Union (EU) began decades ago, but the non-official beginning can be traced to negotiations to draft the “North American Free Trade Agreement” (NAFTA). NAFTA began a series of agreements among Canada, Mexico, and the United States which broke down traditional tariffs, trade restrictions, and custom laws. It was hailed at the time as a much-needed vehicle to break down barriers to economic growth and mutual security among the three nations. But since it went into effect in 1994, the truth has been just the opposite. It has failed in almost every way to enhance the financial and personal security of average Canadians, Mexicans, and Americans. But, it has enriched a small group of wealthy elitists, dozens of multinational corporations, and a host of foreign countries such as Red China and India which have taken advantage of NAFTA to pour cheap goods and labor into North America. It has also placed all three nations on a path eerily similar to the path that Europe took to create the EU.

One next step was a proposed agreement, loosely called by some NAFTA-Plus. But 9/11 made that politically unachievable, so the three governments waited until March of 2005, when President George W. Bush met with then Mexican President Vicente Fox and then Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin at his ranch near Waco, Texas.

At this meeting they quietly agreed to launch the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America" (SPP). In their quiet announcement, the three officials heralded the SPP saying it would, “make our open societies safer and more secure, our businesses more competitive, and our economies more resilient.” The official U.S. government website hails the agreement as an “integration” of the three nations’ bureaucracies in order to enhance our mutual security and prosperity. But all that is just another step towards the real goal of the SPP… the creation of a “North American Union.”

The NAU had just recently received another boost when, a month earlier, in February of 2005, the Supreme Court held in Kelo v. City of New London that eminent domain could be used to confiscate private property for commercial profit and gain (masked as economic development). Many across the nation were justifiably angry. Few realized it at the time, but this was a major moment in the escalating drive to construct a continent wide "North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway” -- a massive roadway that could someday serve as the anchor of the larger plan to absorb the United States into a single NAU with Canada and Mexico. Many in Texas are now learning this first hand, as literally millions stand at risk of losing their homes, ranches, farms, and businesses to “eminent domain.”

The drive for the NAU advanced further when President George W. Bush next met the Mexican and Canadian heads of state in Cancun, Mexico in April, 2006. He said the meeting celebrated the first anniversary of the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America” and was a follow-up to the 2005 Summit. At the founding of the SPP on March 23, 2005 at Bush’s ranch near Waco, George W. Bush, then-Mexican President Vicente Fox, and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin “committed their governments” to the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America” and assigned “working groups” to fill in the details. This was accelerated further in various key agencies across each of the three countries’ working governments.

The next major step for the NAU occurred in Montebello, Quebec from August 20-21, 2007 where Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a news conference that “we want to facilitate the flow of traffic across our borders.” The White House issued a statement that the meeting “represents an important first step in achieving the goals of the Security and Prosperity Partnership.”

It was at this time, under pressure from TCC Chairman Howard Phillips, who was there working with a large group of anti-NAU Canadians and Americans, that both President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper ridiculed the mere idea that they wanted an NAU. What was missing, though, was anything which countered the growing mountain of evidence that Bush and his counterparts are working to achieve that objective.

The next step in this relentless NAU march is imminent, as the three chief executives will once again meet, this time in New Orleans between April 21 and 22. TCC and our anti-NAU coalition will be there. More to follow.