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October 18, 2007 According to a Canadian Press story from yesterday, Bill Clinton will be the keynote speaker at the third annual "Ontario Economic Summit," which is set for November 13-15 at the White Oaks Conference Resort & Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. "During the three-day summit, Ontario's corporate, government, labour and academic leaders will explore how they must work together to take responsibility for the competitiveness of Ontario's communities, infrastructure renewal and development, and our international accountabilities," wrote CP of the fourth annual three-day summit, which is organized by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and co-chaired by North American Competitiveness Council members Linda Hasenfratz (CEO, Linamar Corporation) and Michael Sabia (CEO, Bell Canada). According to the official summit website, "At this two day event, invited leaders identify strategic priorities for the province," and, "Partnerships and alliances are then formed through the OES Advisory Council to act on specific collaborative projects and initiatives throughout the year." The SPP was one big initiative for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce this year. In a letter to U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff dated April 26, 2007, the business lobby wrote (emphasis ours): "U.S. and Canadian governments have made and will continue to make physical and logistical improvements to major border points with the aim of speeding the secure passage of legitimate travellers. But more needs to be done. Officials in both nations must continue to develop strategies that are in line with the Security and Prosperity Partnership’s (SPP) notions of streamlining the secure movement of low-risk traffic across shared borders. In addition, we must continue to work towards a formal Canada-U.S. pre-clearance agreement, contingent upon legislative amendments." Legislative amendments? The goal of the SPP was to avoid Parliament and Congress if possible. But earlier this year Chertoff walked out of talks to put a U.S. pre-clearance station on Canadian soil when the Canadian government refused to allow U.S. customs officers to fingerprint Canadians at the border who changed their mind about crossing. It's illegal to fingerprint anyone up here unless they are charged with a crime or agree to be fingerprinted voluntarily. Apparently not even the Conservatives wanted to touch this one and Chertoff stormed out without his SPP agreement on pre-clearance. In August 2007, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce put out a report that again called on the provincial and federal governments to make the Ontario-U.S. border a priority, in terms of money for infrastructure and a new streamlined environmental assessment process for cross-border bridges and tunels, but also by coming back to the table on pre-clearance. In its recommendations on "Joint Cross-Border Projects," the chamber urges: "The Canadian government to work towards a formal Canada-US preclearance agreement, contingent upon legislative amendments… Work with the US to fully test and develop accessible and affordable document(s) that will comply with US requirements (i.e. an enhanced driver’s license)," and, "Investigate opportunities to link into the same technology used by the US government to make a continental passport card." The Canada-U.S. Smart Border Declaration of 2001 called for "Permanent Resident Cards" that would have both countries, "Develop and deploy a secure card for permanent residents which includes a biometric identifier." Leaked SPP documents aquired by Judicial Watch in the U.S. prove that the idea is still under development. An October 12, 2005 SPP meeting agenda listed "One-card status and approach" and the "branding issues" of such a card. "The next step is to empower an interagency working group to further articulate the vision and develop the overall plan to deliver One-Card functionality," say the leaked documents. Now the Ontario Chamber of Commerce seems to be pushing for a "continental passport card" too. In their August report, they write: "SPP’s goals are encouraging. However, the SPP is a dialogue, not an agreement. It is important, therefore, that all three governments remain dedicated to SPP. To this end, the Ontario government must take on the responsibility of ensuring the province’s priorities are addressed through this forum. Specifically, the Ontario and federal governments need to assess cross-border activities to determine how best to streamline and coordinate these processes within Canada and the US." We'll keep you updated on the Ontario Economic Summit. You can read the preliminary agenda for this year's meeting by clicking here. To read the Council of Canadians analysis on the North American Competitiveness Council, click here. |
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