Certainly, Canadian narks are clearly in favor of anything that will give them more power.

See
Canadian Press Links DEAland Military To Closing Of Vancouver’s Cannabis Café;
Narco-imperialism At Work. Canada Should Issue Its Own Declaration Of Independence.

Our northern neighbor remains an impossible problem for DEAland prohibitionists, too white to invade, but too close to ignore. Nonetheless, there is certainly lots of behind the scenes pressure going on.)

US said mulling adding Canada to drug-country list

TORONTO, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Canada could be added to a list of drug-trafficking and producing countries compiled by the United States in an effort to push it into taking a harder stance on the war against drugs, a newspaper said on Saturday.

The State Department report would first be reviewed by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who would decide whether to make the recommendation to President Bill Clinton, who is expected to make a decision by November.

The newspaper said its sources suggested that Mexico, still hurting from being added to the list last year, has been pushing for Canada's inclusion to the list. The list names 28 countries, including China, India, Hong Kong, Pakistan and a number of Latin American countries, and tracks nations that the U.S. government believes to be involved in growing and shipping narcotics to the United States.

Countries on the list face a number of sanctions including denial of various financing programs sponsored by the United States.

Low funding caused U.S. drug action, B.C. says. Blacklist considered, ruled out for now.

From The Globe and Mail -- Canada’s National Newspaper
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August 16, 1999

Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Valerie Noftle confirmed yesterday that the U.S. State Department took the unprecedented step of considering placing Canada on the narcotics blacklist, which now includes 28 countries, but said Washington has ruled that possibility out for now.

"They were considering putting us on the list. The idea was to consider putting Canada on the Majors list."

She said that the United States should stop finger-pointing.

She added that it should start working more closely with Canada through international bodies to fight the global war on drugs. "The drug problem is best dealt with in an international capacity, not unilaterally. It's best to tackle this issue together and not by pointing the finger at one another."

Apart from posting some additional police officers at Vancouver airport, he said, Ottawa hasn't "done very much" to assist B.C. in trying to curb the mushrooming drug-trafficking problem.

Constable Rintoul, who is the media relations officer for B.C.'s drug enforcement program, said organized crime groups now view Canada as the route of choice into the United States for heroin, cocaine and marijuana. He conceded that British Columbia has become a haven for drug traffickers doing business in B.C.'s $3-billion-a-year marijuana industry. "Organized crime groups laugh at us in Canada. We are an easy mark."
(Marijuananews note: He is not "conceding" but alleging. He is making a case for more funding.)

An easy mark, he said, because of Canada's porous border with the United States and weak sentences for those convicted of drug offences. "We've known for several years that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI have been quite concerned about the flow of drugs from Canada into the United States."

(Marijuananews note: Are they reliable sources?)

After reading a report in Saturday's Globe and Mail about the U.S. blacklist, Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy told the paper he was "shocked," especially considering the close co-operation between the two countries.

Ms. Noftle said diplomats first learned Canada could be placed on the drug blacklist in the spring, and that senior Canadian diplomats in Washington and Ottawa were quickly enlisted to resolve the matter.

"We were informed that the matter had been settled in early June and our embassy in Washington was given that assurance that's where it sits now," she said.

A source has told The Globe that Washington's considerations prompted Foreign Affairs to prepare a briefing note for the cabinet in early June. However, it is unclear if the matter was raised at a Liberal cabinet meeting.

Ms. Noftle dismissed American suggestions that Canada has not done enough to combat the war on illicit drugs. In May, U.S. officials fired off a litany of complaints over Canada's handling of the illicit drug trade from light sentences for drug offences to cutbacks in anti-drug RCMP forces. "We have been very involved in the war on drugs," she said. "In terms of Canada and the Western Hemisphere, we have taken the lead in establishing dialogue on drugs."

On the contrary, Canada and the United States work closely together to deal with the international drug trade, he said.

Mr. Axworthy said some low-level bureaucrats in the federal department of the Solicitor-General had picked up some casual speculation from U.S. counterparts earlier this year about Canada being targeted for the blacklist. Officials in his department checked it out at the official level and were told "there's nothing to it."

Mr. Axworthy said the suggestion by anonymous U.S. sources that Canada might be blacklisted could be a reaction among low-level U.S. bureaucrats to Canada's opposition to the U.S. policy of publishing a list of countries believed to be a drug problem. "It [the list] has caused some serious reaction by a lot of states in the Americas and that's why we are taking a more co-operating, collegial approach."

Mr. Axworthy said Canada is trying to promote a co-ordinated approach to enforcement among all the countries in the Western Hemisphere through the Organization of American States. A co-ordinated plan could be ready for signing next year when Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is host of a summit of the Americas, he said.

U.S. Denies It Will Add Canada To Drugs Hit List

OTTAWA (Reuters) -
August 16, 1999

U.S. officials Monday dismissed a newspaper report that Washington might add Canada to a list of drug-trafficking and producing countries it felt were not doing enough in the war against drugs.

Saturday's edition of the Globe and Mail had said the State Department's Narcotics and Law Enforcement Division was poised to include Canada on a list of 28 nations that includes China, Burma, Mexico, India and Hong Kong.

``It won't ever happen. It's nonsense. That is a list of bad guys. Of course Canada will never be on such a list,'' said one senior U.S. official in Ottawa who asked not to be identified.

U.S. drug enforcement agencies are concerned by the rising amount of Canadian marijuana being smuggled across the border, particularly from the western province of British Columbia.

``If this was under serious consideration the ambassador would certainly know about it, and he knows nothing about this matter,'' said Buck Shinkman.

``Canada and the United States are both fighting the drug problem hard and the cooperation between our two countries is unprecedented worldwide.''

A Canadian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said middle-ranking State Department officials had proposed adding Canada to the list earlier this year but the idea was quickly dropped.

The U.S. blacklist tracks nations that Washington believes are involved in growing and shipping narcotics to the United States. The White House must impose sanctions on those countries whose efforts are deemed inadequate.

The State Department's annual report on the fight against drugs, released in February, praised Canada's efforts but expressed concern about the situation in British Columbia.

It quoted Canadian intelligence officials as saying the marijuana industry in the province was worth $1 billion a year, with 60 percent of the crop being smuggled to the United States.