What I was referring to is actually the positive aspects of giving up sovereignty, of reducing the power of the state. For instance, individual rights and freedoms are actually a reduction in sovereignty, because it keeps the state out of the sphere around the individual. Reductions of sovereignty externally tie us into trade treaties.
In the case of Canada, with our small market, that's essential for our well-being. When you look at the evidence globally, you'll find that the nations that have entered the world global trading system have actually had the greatest reductions in poverty and the greatest increases in prosperity.
My argument was that reductions in state sovereignty have a history of positive outcomes rather than negative outcomes. What I was trying to deal with was the assumption that anything like AbitibiBowater that is seen to diminish sovereignty is therefore bad because it diminishes sovereignty. What I was saying is, no, sovereignty is not an intrinsic good.