North American Parliament under way

A group supporting North American integration is holding its fourth annual "North American Model Parliament" for 100 university students from the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The North American Forum on Integration, or NAFI, began is "Triumvirate" sessions recently in Montreal's City Hall with a plan to conclude on May 30. According to the NAFI website, "Triumvirate 2008" brings together the students "to participate in an international negotiation exercise in which they will simulate a parliamentary meeting between North American political actors." Participants are assigned to play one of three roles: a legislator, representing a country other than their own; a journalist; or a lobbyist. Four themes were selected as subjects of the mock parliament's debate: Fostering Renewable Electricity Markets (in English); Countering North American corporate outsourcing (in French); Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (in English); and NAFTA's Chapter 11 on investments (in English). A major goal of the model parliament, according to the NAFI Triumvirate website, is to "develop the participants' sense of belonging to North America." Raymond Chretien, the president of the Triumvirate and the former Canadian ambassador to both Mexico and the U.S., was quoted as claiming the exercise was intended to be more than academic. "The creation of a North American parliament, such as the one being simulated by these young people, should be considered," Among the NAFI board of directors are Robert A. Pastor, Ph.D., former director of the Center for North American Studies at American University; and M. Stephen Blank, Ph.D., director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University. Pastor has written extensively on his proposal for the creation of a "North American Community,"