While Ronald Reagan was organizing his run for the 1980 U.S. presidential election, two of his policy advisers, Richard V. Allen and Peter Hannaford, were traveling with him in Europe.
A few months later, another colleague, domestic policy advisor Martin Anderson, suggested calling the proposal the "North American Accord".
Despite being greeted with some scepticism and resistance from leaders in Canada and Mexico, Reagan endorsed the idea when he formally announced his candidacy in November 1979.
[1] Reagan eventually found a sympathetic voice in Canada after a 1985 report by a Canadian government commission suggested pursuing a free trade agreement with the United States.
After becoming prime minister in 1984, Brian Mulroney responded by initiating discussions with the United States and these negotiations culminated with the signing of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 1988.
[3] Before and after the election Fox made appearances on several U.S. news programs advocating greater integration including a plan to open up the U.S.–Mexico border within ten years.
It was described by the leaders of Canada (Paul Martin), Mexico (Fox) and the United States (Bush), as a dialogue to provide greater cooperation on security and economic issues.
One criticism was that the governments lacked a "vision of what North America might become" and as such did not provide the proper context that would allow the initiative to deal with barriers to deeper integration.
Puerto Rico[ref]) by Population[18] (rank in parentheses) within Canada: within Mexico: within United States: The following is a list of organizations that are by varying degrees associated with the integration efforts of North America.
In 2008, Canada was the largest foreign supplier to the US of all forms of power – oil and gas, electricity and uranium – exporting more than Can$125 billion annually across its southern border.
Sectors that were still not highly integrated in 2012 were healthcare, banking, telecoms, broadcasting, and airlines, largely because these areas have been "ring-fenced" within the agreements, or are subject to other legislative hurdles.
By contrast, the United States lacks any large government energy company, and Canada's attempt to create one (Petro-Canada) was short-lived.