OTTAWA: The photograph on the front page of a national newspaper in late January looked straightforward: it showed Canadian soldiers hustling three captured Al Qaeda fighters from the back of an aeroplane in Kandahar.

But two weeks later, it was revealed that the Canadian army had handed over the prisoners to American authorities, who sent them to an uncertain fate in Guantanamo Bay camp, Cuba.

The incident highlights the changed relationship of the two neighbouring countries, especially after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The first change, critics charge, is the loss of Canadian sovereignty. In the past, fugitive criminals were spared extradition from Canada if they faced the death penalty on their return to the US.

Then there was the issue of whether Canadian soldiers were part of an international force combating terrorism or simply an extension of the US forces.

The confusion was only compounded when — due to years of underfunding - the Canadian military had to piggyback on American planes to transport 750 troops and equipment to Afghanistan in early February.

Since Sept 11 the two countries have forged unprecedented cooperation on a range of issues: with little or no parliamentary debate, Canadian laws on everything from immigration and banking to defence and intelligence have been harmonised with those in the US.

The extent of the collaboration has raised the prospect of full political and economic union, akin to the European Union. Consider some of the political developments that have occurred since the terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington DC.

Over the objections of many, armed US air marshals now fly on all Canadian flights to Washington’s Reagan International Airport. Armed US immigration officers and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents may soon begin working on Canadian soil.

Tom Ridge, director of the newly-established office of Homeland Security in Washington, has called for a North American “security perimeter” that would be patrolled by Canadian soldiers under US command.

And the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Feb 9 that the Pentagon is about to propose a new military command structure to US President George W. Bush — bringing air, sea and land forces under one central US command for the entire North American continent.

Military analysts suggest that this is the first step toward implementing Bush’s controversial missile defence shield, something that has previously met with fierce opposition from many, including Canadian Defence Minister Art Eggleton.

The spectre of continental union doesn’t stop with security issues.

Canada and the US are each other’s largest trading partners, with the annual two-way trade worth more than 500 billion dollars. Two free trade agreements already govern the flow of goods and services, but Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chritien wants to take things to a higher gear by creating a “seamless border”.

The rhetoric was backed up in December’s federal budget with CAN$600 million (US$378 million) earmarked for improving border infrastructure and streamlining customs protocols over the next five years.

For his part, Bush Jr. pledged to boost border-control spending to 10.7 billion dollars beginning next October. “Globalisation and the war on terrorism are being used to sweep Canada up more tightly into the orbit of the US,” former defence minister Paul Hellyer said recently. “While we must win the struggle against terrorism, there’s no reason why Canada has to hand over its sovereignty to the US to be a partner in the fight.”

Maude Barlow, chairwoman of the Council of Canadians think- tank said: “(The US) will continue to demand more and will only stop once they’re convinced that we have sufficiently harmonized our immigration policies and refugee policies to the point that crossing the Canadian border is no different than crossing into another state.”

Even politicians are uneasy.

“I’m very concerned about our participation in the war,” fumed Bonnie Brown, MP. “We’ve been bending over backwards and I’m not seeing any payoff.”

On the defence front, Canada and the US have long shared military resources through the North American Air Defence Agreement (NORAD). But Scott Taylor, editor of the military magazine Esprit de Corps, says closer integration - whether in Afghanistan or in supporting Bush’s ‘security perimeter’ — is not in Canada’s best interests.

“It might make us more, not less, of a target than before,” he said. “This is not about making us strong and free, it’s about making us a puppet ally.”

Not everyone agrees that 11 September is responsible for irrevocably sending Canada down the road to becoming the proverbial 51st American state.

The process of greater harmonisation was happening anyway, said Laura McDonald, director of the Centre on North American Politics and Society at Ottawa’s Carleton University. “September 11th didn’t create it, it just sped up the process,” she said. “In that sense it acted as a wake up call to us.”

Despite the flurry of activity in recent months, McDonald says it is too early to talk in terms of an integrated, EU-styled entity. At this juncture, the focus is on adding to the two existing free trade agreements. There is no concerted effort to forge either a social or political union, and a common currency — although being talked about — is not seriously being considered.

One thing is clear, though: Canadians and Americans are going to have to rethink the present border.—Dawn/Gemini News Service.