The conference, Canada, Free Trade and Deep Integration in North America: Revitalizing Democracy, Upholding the Public Good, will be held Oct. 15 and 16 and is organized by York’s Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

The conference is intended as a response to the integrationist drive advanced by business interests, their political supporters and some academics, says Professor Ricardo Grinspun, acting director of CERLAC. The conference will bring together researchers from across Canada, Latin America and the United States who share a critical perspective on free trade and the proposals for deeper integration in North America and in the hemisphere. The conference will be preceded by a teach-in for social activists at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) on Oct. 14.

The conference will reflect on changes in Canada-US relations since September 11, 2001. The Canadian government has engaged with Washington in a number of policy areas such as customs, immigration, refugees, civil rights, illegal drugs and defence that have broad implications for Canada. "While there is still controversy in Canadian civil society over the prospect of stronger Canada-US ties, the business lobby's response has been to advocate for a much more aggressive, ‘deeper’ phase of integration," says Grinspun, co-chair of the conference.

Canadian business associations and think tanks have articulated concrete proposals calling for stronger ties in a number of policy areas, says Grinspun. These proposals assume that economic integration is irreversible, that closer commercial relations with the United States will bring widespread economic benefits and that deeper integration will not lead to an "Americanization" of Canada, he adds.

"Conference participants beg to differ," says Grinspun. "A number of recent events promoted by some mainstream academics, government, business associations, and private foundations have served to advance proposals for deep integration, leading to a loss of policy space and a dangerous alignment with Bush-administration policies. There seems little doubt that the question of deepening ties with the US will be a central focus of Paul Martin’s new government. This conference represents the first coordinated effort by scholars and researchers who are highly critical of the deeper integration model to respond both intellectually and practically to the corporate elite's vision of integration," Grinspun adds.

The event brings together specialists from those policy areas most affected by growing economic, military, and political integration. "While the expertise of these researchers lies in different policy areas, they share a scepticism regarding the likelihood that closer ties with the United States will lead to economic benefits and secured access to the US market. They also share a common concern regarding the negative effects of deeper integration on Canada's social fabric and distinctive values," says conference co-chair Bruce Campbell, executive director of the CCPA, an independent national think thank. "Most importantly, the conference specialists want to advance an alternative perspective that emphasizes Canadian democracy, social and environmental progress, as well as a consistent continental and global role for Canada," Campbell adds.