26 June 2002

Out of spotlight, a key deal emerges

The following article is excerpted from the Globe and Mail of 26 June 2002.

CALGARY -- The high-profile protocol and pageantry of the annual summits of leading industrialized nations was on full public display yesterday. But from a perspective of pure Canadian self-interest, the more important work was going on quietly in Washington, as officials tied up one of the most crucial Canada-U.S. agreements in years.

If all goes as planned, Deputy Prime Minister John Manley and U.S. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge will hail the completion of a sweeping cross-border deal as early as Friday, likely in Niagara Falls, Ont., including controversial provisions limiting refugee claims.

Canadian officials at the G8 summit suggested last night that this was not guaranteed, however.
The intention had been for President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to announce it themselves, either right before or right after the summit, but the White House and the Prime Minister's Office couldn't work out a time to do so. Mr. Manley and Mr. Ridge are hardly stand-ins, though. They did much of the work anyway.

The agreement apparently involves, among other things, a multipronged plan to speed the flow of goods and people across the Canada-U.S. border, fleshing out a 30-point "smart border" declaration made six months ago.

At that time, the Sept. 11 terror attacks had brought bilateral trade virtually to a halt.
Pilot projects are now under way at various border points. Regular cross-border travellers -- truckers and business people -- receive special passes, once they've completed a security audit, allowing them to be waved through customs. Those programs are expected to be rolled out nationally, often using a specially created lane.

Mr. Manley and Mr. Ridge also will highlight a range of other measures, including co-ordination of visa policies abroad, joint efforts at screening air and sea travellers, joint intelligence work and co-ordinated steps to improve infrastructure along the 49th parallel.

"We want to say we've moved on all fronts," a Canadian official said.

Federal bureaucrats had been working toward such innovations for years, often struggling without much political support in Ottawa, let alone Washington. Bilateral commerce has skyrocketed under free trade, but the two governments didn't respond in kind; the number of U.S. border inspectors, for example, didn't budge. Lineups grew, often in both directions.

A state like Ohio trades more with Canada than all of the United States trades with China. Georgia trades more with Canada than the United States trades with France or Italy. Ontario sends 93 per cent of its exports to the United States.

But it took Sept. 11 to make the border problem a Canadian priority, and to get the attention of the Bush administration.

A particularly controversial aspect of any deal, however, will be a so-called "safe third-country" accord in which Canada would turn back refugee claimants seeking to enter the country through the United States -- and vice versa.

As in the case of speeding border trade, Ottawa has long sought a refugee pact; Canada's relatively lenient treatment of claimants (including the ability to work and receive social services) has meant the movement of refugees at the border usually has been northward. A significant percentage of refugee claimants in Canada arrive through the United States, putting further pressure on border resources. Sept. 11, again, made clear the urgency of such a pact.

It is certain to be criticized vehemently by refugee advocates, who argue that the U.S. system for determining whether a claimant is eligible for asylum is too restrictive.

But Canadian officials respond that Washington takes its Geneva Convention responsibilities seriously, and that efforts need to be made to halt what amounts to asylum-shopping. By doing so, they say, Ottawa could expand programs in which refugees languishing overseas are actively brought to Canada.

Immigration Min