Big Business Attends Perimeter Talks in Washington

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Embassymag.ca Feb 09, 2012

New information has emerged on the perimeter security plan between Canada and the United States, with hundreds of government and industry representatives meeting in Washington last week, and the Harper government signalling it will soon table a bill to entrench cross-border policing over water.

On Jan. 30 and 31, representatives from both governments as well as industry officials held talks in Washington on the Regulatory Co-operation Council, one of the two planks of the Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness Action Plan.

A notice for both talks was quietly posted on the government's border plan website sometime last month. It included an agenda for the second day that struck a whole host of technical sessions bringing bureaucrats and industry together to hammer out draft work plans.

The jam-packed, day-long Jan. 31 meeting covered everything from agriculture and food to pharmaceuticals, veterinary drugs, emission standards, transportation, nanotechnology, disease, vehicle safety standards, and occupational safety issues.

It "got really into the weeds," said Birgit Matthiesen, the Washington-based senior adviser on US government relations to the president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.

She told Embassy that 240 people registered to take part in the talks. That includes, she noted, top Canadian bureaucrats on the file like Industry Canada's senior associate deputy minister Simon Kennedy, and the Treasury Board's assistant secretary in the Regulatory Cooperation Council's secretariat, Robert Carberry.

Also making an appearance was Cass R. Sunstein, the administrator of the US Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs inside the White House's Office of Management and Budget, she noted. CME was hoping to see engagement on the American side, and Ms. Matthiesen said US turnout at the sessions was "very healthy."

The Canadian Council of Chief Executives, which sent its vice president of policy, international, and fiscal issues Sam Boutziouvis to the meetings, was impressed by the turnout of the US private sector for the working group sessions, said Sarah Reid, the council's communications officer.

Each session had at least an hour to an hour-and-a-half worth of consultations with industry leaders, and everyone was given until Feb. 7 to provide comments on those sessions, said Ms. Matthiesen.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce's director of Canada-US and transportation policy, Leah Littlepage, attended both sessions, said Émilie Potvin, director of public affairs at the chamber. The organization is "really happy with the progress so far," she said.

But one issue is that of scheduling: no one is sure when the next meeting will take place. Ms. Potvin said the chamber is "still looking for information on how stakeholders can participate in the process" going forward.

As well, the stakeholder talks for the security side of the plan, called the Beyond the Border Working Group, have not yet taken place, Ms. Matthiesen said.

Intel sharing deal headed to Toews

The border action plan announced in December indicates that by the end of last month, Canada and the United States would "determine the way ahead" on how to share information and evidence between their police forces and intelligence agencies.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ian Trites, signalled the government is not intending to release that information publicly before Public Safety Minister Vic Toews gets a look.

"The way ahead on information sharing related to national security entails continued bilateral dialogue on strategic issues and best practices. Progress will be reported to the Minister of Public Safety and the Secretary of Homeland Security," he wrote in an email.

He indicated that a series of meetings have already taken place that tackle legal problems associated with harmonizing intelligence sharing.

The government also said it would pursue the ratification of a cross-border maritime policing deal by winter 2011-12. Called Shiprider, it began in 2005 and has involved six pilot projects between the RCMP and the US Coast Guard.

"The government intends to table the legislation required to allow for the Shiprider framework to be ratified in the near future," wrote Mr. Trites.

Meanwhile, the government has also identified the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, a provincial and US state group focused on Pacific commerce, as its chosen group to bring in a plan to maintain Pacific commerce in the event of an emergency.

The government committed to identifying which group it would use to implement this emergency plan by Jan. 31.

PNWER, as it is known, includes British Columbia, the Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories, as well as Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

"Discussions are ongoing with PNWER with regard to the scope and extent of their work on this project," wrote Mr. Trites.

The two governments also indicated in their border plan that Canada would immediately begin deploying US bomb scanners at certain airports. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is currently upgrading its screening equipment as old technology is replaced, wrote Mr. Trites.

"Existing screening equipment is being replaced by the latest technology, which is also certified to meet US Transportation Security Administration standards. Upgrades have begun and will continue over the next three years."

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