Main perimeter pact initiatives still years away as Canada-U.S. unfurl plans

Enlarge Image

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US President Barack Obama hold a news conference following a meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Dec.7, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

WASHINGTON - Stephen Harper and Barack Obama are calling it the dawning of a new day in Canada-U.S. relations: a border security pact that includes a controversial new entry-exit system for crossing the 49th parallel.

The two world leaders shared the stage in the U.S. capital Wednesday after a closed-door White House meeting where they discussed a host of topics, including the recent move by the Obama administration to defer a decision on TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline until after next November's presidential election.

Obama denied suggestions that the Keystone move was political, saying Harper understood "it's important for us to make sure that all the questions regarding the project are properly understood, especially its impact on our environment and the health and safety of the American people."

The president described his ties to Harper, after they sat down for the 11th time since he was elected to the White House three years ago, as a "close personal friendship."

Not only that, Obama added, but Canada is going to help him achieve his political objectives thanks to the $1 billion border perimeter deal aimed at streamlining trade while protecting the continent from the type of terrorist attacks that still haunt Americans 10 years after Sept. 11, 2001.

The deal will not only improve screening procedures for travellers and passengers before they arrive in North America, it will also create domestic jobs, the president said.

"Canada is key to achieving my goal of doubling American exports and putting folks back to work," Obama said.

"Put simply, we're going to make it easier to conduct the trade and travel that creates jobs, and we're going to make it harder for those who would do us harm and threaten our security."

He added: "We're agreeing to a series of concrete steps to bring our economies even closer and to improve the security of our citizens."

Speaking in French, Harper said the deal, in the works for months between officials in both the U.S. and Canada, marks a "historic day" for the world's two biggest trading partners.

"These agreements create a new modern order for a new century," the prime minister said.

"Together, they represent the most significant steps forward in Canada- U.S. co-operation since the North American Free Trade Agreement."

Nonetheless, key features of the 29-point deal — as well as an accord on regulatory reform — are three to four years from seeing the light of day.

Full implementation of the entry-exit control regime isn't expected until June 2014, the same year a new integrated cargo screening strategy is expected to be fully online.

An improved means of sniffing for explosives in the luggage of U.S.-bound air travellers isn't due for completion until March 2015.

"There are going to be other items that are frankly more complicated and are going to take a little bit longer to put in place," said a senior Canadian government official, who briefed journalists on condition of anonymity.

"Entry-exit is a good example. This is not something where you flip a switch and it happens all at once."

The delays threaten to derail the wide-ranging perimeter security pact because it is being driven from the top down — by Obama's White House and the Prime Minister's Office in Ottawa.

In addition, the long U.S. presidential election campaign is expected to ramp up early next year, exactly when the tough work begins on many of the pilot programs and next steps outlined Wednesday.

That will force the Harper government to compete for the attention of the Obama administration, which will be focused on re-election.

After 2012, Harper's team will then have to deal with a fresh Democrat cabinet or an entirely new Republican White House that did not sign on to the deal.

There were few surprises in the action plan released Wednesday.

Insiders leaked major elements of the agreement months ago, but an official announcement was delayed by Harper's request for a high-profile launch with Obama at the White House.

The most contentious feature could be the plan to exchange entry information of all persons at the Canada-U.S. border, which would serve as a record of exit from the other country.

Canada says this information will help identify people who overstay their visas, track the departure of people subject to removal orders, and verify that people seeking immigration and employment insurance benefits are meeting Canadian residency requirements.

The plan also calls for joint, integrated assessments about security threats and improved intelligence sharing. The countries have pledged to create common privacy principles to guide such information exchanges.

Other main components of the deal include more comprehensive advance screening of travellers from third countries heading to North America and a harmonized approach to screening cargo arriving from offshore.

Harper was brief when asked if the new deal meant Ottawa would share information with the U.S. on travellers to Canada from suspect countries like Pakistan, regardless if they had any plans to travel stateside.

"Our two countries co-operate on international security issues very closely and very regularly," he said. "That co-operation, at the same time, is governed by agreements and defined protocols, and those remain in effect."

Another initiative means new explosive detection machines will be installed in select Canadian airports by March 2015, a measure aimed at making U.S. flight connections easier.

The countries will also work toward a common framework for trusted trader programs, enhancement of the Nexus trusted traveller program, and more pre-inspection and pre-clearance for land, rail, marine traffic.

In addition, there are various objectives and milestones to streamline the regulatory regime in the meat industry, the automotive sector and product approval processes.

A Regulatory Co-operation Council of about a dozen senior bureaucrats from Ottawa and Washington are to oversee the way forward. They will report back annually.

Canada and the U.S. share the largest trading partnership in the world with $1.8 billion flowing between the two countries each day.

Critics of the perimeter security initiative argue it puts Canadian sovereignty at risk.

They say Canada could lose control of personal information about citizens because the U.S. has less stringent privacy protections. They also worry about increased integration of policing and traveller screening.

"The Harper government has again succumbed to U.S. pressure to beef up security and surveillance powers for little or no real security gains to either country," said Maude Barlow, national chairwoman for the Council of Canadians, which believes the border initiatives should be debated vigorously before being put into effect.

"Harper has also bent to the desires of North American business lobbies to remove regulatory burdens most of us understand as health and safety standards."

Meanwhile, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said nothing in the action plan should go ahead before adoption of promised privacy principles.

The absence of civil society organizations and privacy advocates from a media briefing Wednesday underscored the tensions.

Only industry and consumer groups were among the 19 invited organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Canadian Trucking Alliance.

Business leaders applauded the plan, but warned that sustained effort would be required to see it through.

Political will "at the very highest level" will be needed to ensure momentum established by the plan's various pilot projects does not wane, said Perrin Beatty, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

John Manley, president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, called the pact "a valuable step forward" but predicted it would not be big news south of the border.

"It's always a challenge for Canada to get on the very busy and crowded agenda in Washington."

A senior White House official, however, said just because the American media isn't paying much attention, the border security deal is a "top priority" for the Obama administration.

"From the president's perspective, these are a very important set of initiatives, and he views the relationship with Canada as a very important relationship," the official said, citing as proof "the number of times and the frequency with which he gets together with Prime Minister Harper."

Jayson Myers, president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, acknowledged that manufacturers are concerned the political situation in the U.S. may slow progress or undermine it outright.

"But I think there is bipartisan support for improving security, bipartisan support for funding systems and technologies that will strengthen security at the border and make the border more efficient.

"I'm not as pessimistic as some."

Reacting to the perimeter pact in Ottawa, New Democrat MP Brian Masse, who represents the Ontario border city of Windsor, said he was worried about the kind of biometric information Canadians would have to share to cross the border and how that information might wind up being used.

"Once again, the privacy issues are huge in this."

Masse said he's already got constituents who've crossed into the U.S. for a child's hockey game only to find that information used to cut them off employment insurance.

Liberal Leader Bob Rae noted that Canadians still face a $5 fee to enter the U.S., "Buy American" policies and "an overall atmosphere of protectionism."

There's not much of a breakthrough on any of those files, he said.

"I think a lot of Canadians will be wondering at the end of the day what's all the fuss been about?"

— with files from Mike Blanchfield, Jim Bronskill and Joan Bryden in Ottawa.