NASCO trickery revealed by governmental news service

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MANITOBA GOVERNMENT NEWS RELEASE
News Media Services, Rm 29, Legislative Bldg.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 0V8
Ph: (204) 945-3746 Fax: (204) 945-3988
E-MAIL nmservices@leg.gov.mb.ca
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MANITOBA HOSTS NASCO INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION FORUM Manitoba will host the first North America's SuperCorridor Coalition (NASCO) conference to be held in Canada in Winnipeg from May 30 to June 2, Transportation and Government Services Minister Ron Lemieux and Intergovernmental Affairs and Trade Minister Scott Smith announced today. "The international trade corridor reaching from our doorstep to Mexico represents billions of dollars in annual economic activity," said Lemieux. "We are honoured to host our NASCO partners for the first time on Canadian soil because it reflects Manitoba's leadership in the development of North American transportation opportunities." "NASCO and this conference bring the strengths and resources of our international partnership to bear on the challenges and opportunities facing Canada, the United States and Mexico in the growing complexities of global markets," said Smith. "In creating a sound, sustainable and secure mid-continent trade and transportation corridor [the transportation corridor is not sustainable], our NASCO partnership is telling the world North America is open for business." [The NASCO partnership tells the world what we already know, that every forest and river is for sale to the highest bidder. Nothing is sacred.] NASCO's membership and alliances include many of the cities [read: mayors], counties and states located along the trade corridor in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico. The Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., the City of Winnipeg and Province of Manitoba are the only Canadian members [more precisely, the mayor of Winnipeg and the Premier of Manitoba are members, the summit itself is inaccesible to any public voice]. Manitoba serves as the northern hub linking Churchill, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver to the corridor. Private sector organizations and government transportation departments from Canada, the United States and Mexico are also members. "NASCO is really looking forward to this year's conference in Winnipeg. The issues we are discussing at the conference are critical to both the trade competitiveness and the quality of life in North America [read: his quality of life], and the delegates in attendance are influential decision makers from the three NAFTA nations in each of the critical issue areas," said George D. Blackwood, Jr., president, NASCO. "This conference is a significant step in the powerful momentum along the NASCO corridor to bring the public and private sectors together [I do not want private interests to command what remains of the public domain! The Canadian government ought to be protecting the public from the encroachments of natural resource industry.] to increase focus, improve our transportation systems and to solidify trading relationships between Canada, the United States and Mexico." The conference will bring delegates together from the three countries to discuss developing economic partnerships, strengthening inter-modal connections, creating inland ports, and meeting needs related to emerging global markets [but not meeting the needs of people], cross-border security [Make no mistake, it's about their security, not yours or mine. Their plan is to expand the security perimeter of the United States to include Canada and Mexico. They want to harmonize the militaries, and food and drug regulatory policies. They want to integrate our cultures.] issues, pandemic planning and transportation sustainability initiatives. "The NASCO Corridor has the potential to be an alternative to the increasingly integrated supply chains of Asia and Europe," said Art DeFehr, honorary conference chair. "A leap of imagination followed by political will is required to make our cross-border differences work for us rather than against us [And by "us" he doesn't mean us]. We hope this conference will advance this agenda." NASCO was created to develop an integrated and secure multi-modal transportation and trade system along the International Mid-Continent Trade and Transportation Corridor through strategic planning, advocacy, infrastructure and non-infrastructure improvements, facilitating trade opportunities, implementing new technologies, establishing an inland ports network and providing education.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT NASCO North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc. (NASCO) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1994, and dedicated to developing the world's first international, integrated and secure, multi-modal transportation system along the International Mid-Continent Trade and Transportation Corridor (the NASCO Corridor) as well as developing the contacts necessary to build solid trading relationships between the three nations. The NASCO Corridor directly impacts the continental trade flow of North America. Membership includes public and private sector entities along the corridor in Canada, the United States and Mexico. From Manitoba, Canada and the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario; to the border crossing of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; extending to the deep water Ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico; the tri-national NASCO membership reflects the international scope of the corridor and the regions it impacts.

NASCO FACT SHEET
The NASCO/ International Mid-Continent Trade and Transportation Corridor:
* is over 4,200 [unnecessary] miles long;
* connects 71 million people [It does not really connect anybody. Only containerized goods are allowed on the corridor, in Texas. The corridor connects natural resources from Canada and Mexico to markets in the U.S.] and a total gross domestic product of over $2.3 trillion;
* moves more than $190 billion between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico [the corridor empties oil, water, gas, and electricity from Canada into the U.S.], a 68 per cent increase since 1995;
* supports total commerce between the three NASCO nations approaching $1 trillion a year;
* has approximately 2.1 million trucks travelling along any portion each year;
* is expected to play a central role in doubling international trade by 2020; and
* includes three of North America's top-20 NAFTA land ports: Detroit (first), Laredo (second) and Pembina, N.D., (11th).