Beware The Closed Door Meeting

Closed door meetings have always concerned me. It seems that secret meetings around North American Integration took place in Banff recently.

I'm actually disturbed by the list of participants:

Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed co-chaired the event alongside former U.S. secretary of state George Shultz and former Mexican finance minister Pedro Aspe. Canadians scheduled to attend included Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier and Alberta Energy Minister Greg Melchin.

American invitees included Rumsfeld, his assistant, Lt. Gen. Gene Renuart and former secretary of energy and defence James Schlesinger.

The list also includes businessmen such as Roger Gibbins, president and CEO of Canada West Foundation, and Ron T. Covais, president of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, which is the largest weapons manufacturer in the United States.

I'm a little surprised to see Lougheed and Schultz chairing the event. I can only hope that they might provide a moderating influence to some of the other players. But something as significant as integration is a significant topic, and one that should not be held "in private".

Considering the US abuse of NAFTA, I'm not all that keen on the idea of further "deep integration" with the United States until such times as they start living up to agreements they've already made.