Home The Ambassador Canada's chief representatives to the U.S. Michael Kergin Ambassador Kergin's Speeches April 10, 2002

Speech to the Minnesota International Center

Notes for a speech by Michael Kergin Ambassador of Canada to the United States to the Minnesota International Center

Minneapolis, Minnesota
10 April 2002

Thank you very much Susan [Thompson] for that kind introduction. And I am grateful to Kathleen [Youngblood] and the Minnesota International Center for their hospitality and for making today's event possible. It is a pleasure to be able to join you all this afternoon.

And let me heartily congratulate you on the fabulous Gophers' NCAA championship. What do you think are chances of signing them up as the official farm team for Canada's 2006 Olympic gold medal winners?

I arrived on Monday evening, and have enjoyed a tremendous program over the past two days in Minneapolis and St. Paul. It is an honour to be the most recent in a long line of Canadian ambassadors to address the Minnesota International Center.

And there is a clear reason why my predecessors and I stay in close touch with this region: we recognize the Twin Cities as among the most competitive knowledge economies in the world.

But there is another reason. I have served almost 15 years as a Canadian diplomat in the United States, and during that time I have learned that the most sincere compliment an American can give to a Canadian is: "You know, you are just like us!" Well, I want to return that compliment right now, by acknowledging Minnesota as the "most Canadian of states!" High praise, indeed.

You find evidence of the simpatico nature of Minnesota-Canada relations in things like the Minnesota state motto: "l'Étoile du nord" — which dates back to the 1850s when the Francophone roots of this region were more prominent. Indeed, this region is steeped in the heritage of the French Canadian "voyageurs" — just consider some of the main thoroughfares downtown: Nicolet (or nico-lay), Marquette, La Salle and Hennepin.

It is in the spirit of this shared heritage that I welcome the opportunity to speak to you this afternoon. These recent months represent one of the most extraordinary junctures in our long and amiable histories. And I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to share with you the Canadian perspective on the post September 11^th world.

During these days of significant international strife and uncertainty, it is important to recall that Canada and the United States are longstanding partners in security and partners in prosperity. It is a partnership that was born of geography (as Minnesotans are aware more than most); tested by history (during the American Revolution and the War of 1812); forged on the battlefield (in two World Wars and Korea); and secured through commitment, agreement and accord (from NORAD to NAFTA).

Since September 11^th actions arising from our partnership in security have very appropriately become more evident — they underpin our mutual confidence in the safeguarding of our countries against criminal or terrorist threats.

But one cannot overemphasize that it has always been our economic partnership which is the foundation of our shared prosperity — indeed our histories (especially in this region) are defined by cooperation, commerce and comity in the creation of wealth by our citizens.

The foundation of the Canada-U.S. partnership has remained rock solid over the years. We share similar values on such basic foreign policy principles as the rule of law, democracy and the merits of free trade. And on the economic front, we both promote open markets and support a strong rules-based trading system.

Canada has a lot invested in a stable trading regime. We strive for a strict adherence to free market principles. This is the basis for the tremendously successful Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, and NAFTA.

And "free trade" means just that! There is no room in today's economy for the arbitrary introduction of new tariffs merely because a competitor's product is more abundant, more efficiently produced, cheaper and of better or equal quality.

That is why Canadians were highly distressed when, last month, the U.S. Commerce Department imposed a 30% tax on imports of Canadian softwood lumber — an essential element of the home building industry in the United States.

The United States may lead the world in many things, but in lumber Canada has the cutting edge. Our supply of high quality lumber is more plentiful, and our mills are often more efficient. The result is a comparative advantage on lumber pricing that favours Canada — it is very simply Adam Smith — the kind one would expect folks in Washington to understand.

This protectionist decision will add $1500 to the average price of a home in the United States. According to the Wall Street Journal, this risks preventing some 300,000 American families from qualifying for mortgages.

Not good for your economy — to impose new taxes on a housing industry that has been a recent buffer against a more severe economic downturn; bad for Canada's economy when, unable to compete against a high tariff, our lumber workers get laid off.

Poor economics for both of us because this U.S. government action handicaps the large integrated Canada-U.S. lumber industries — to the benefit of Russian and Scandinavian producers. This new tax is so high that even Australian lumber can be imported profitably into the United States! As a Washington Times editorial stated on Monday, this is pure "lumbering foolishness"! Why just yesterday I heard that German lumber, yes that's German lumber, was spotted coming into Duluth. This makes no sense — for the U.S. or for Canada!

It is important, therefore, that, as the North American economy weathers the recent contraction, we diligently resist short-term protectionist interests — wherever they may be.

But although we do have our occasional serious dispute, I can assure you that we Canadians do not lose sight of the forest for the trees — or in this case, the softwood.

For example, let me take the most critical issue confronting us all today: the war against terrorism. As co-habitants of North America, Canada and the United States share a common duty to protect all our citizens against criminals and terrorists. Canada's response to the terrorist threat has been swift, comprehensive and clear: "proceed at your peril!"

And in this regard, I should allay any misperceptions: none of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 tragedies was directly connected to Canada or crossed over to the United States from Canada.

Following September 11^th Canada invested quickly in new technologies and additional personnel to boost security.

We froze terrorist assets and introduced legislation to impede terrorist fund-raising. We tightened our refugee regulations to ensure improved compliance and surveillance. Landmark legislation has provided Canada's law enforcement agencies with additional tools to shut down terrorist organizations. Our most recent federal budget contained US$5 billion over five years in expenditures directly associated with security and border-related initiatives. Canada is — and will always be — a steadfast bulwark in America's homeland defence.

And, not unimportantly, Canadian energy resources also contribute significantly to U.S. energy security. Few Americans realize that Canada is the largest energy supplier to the United States — providing over 94% of natural gas imports, close to 100% of your imported hydropower, and — astonishingly — more crude and refined oil products than Saudi Arabia. From a national security perspective, one cannot overstate the importance of deriving your largest source of imported energy from a friendly neighbour next door! Especially today, as we watch the tragedies unfolding in the Middle East.

Overseas, Canada is a significant contributor to the U.S.-led military coalition in the war against terrorism at sea, in the air and on land (although you may not learn it from watching CNN):

• a Canadian naval task group is on station in the Arabian Sea working with the U.S. Sixth Fleet;
• we have strategic airlift, long-range patrol, and tactical airlift detachments supporting coalition forces;
• and a full battalion of Canadian light infantry — the Princess Patricia's — are deployed alongside the 101^st Airborne in Kandahar.

As an interesting aside, I should tell you that the Princess Patricia's are equipped with the "Coyote" light armoured vehicles — a capability that was developed by Canada out of our long experience in global peacekeeping. The Coyotes can travel at speeds up to 60 miles per hour, and are well protected against small arms fire and land mines. The Coyote's state-of-the-art surveillance system was specifically requested by the U.S. military to fill a tactical gap in their capability.

In all, close to 3000 Canadian special and conventional forces have supported U.S. efforts against Al-Qaeda and Taliban resistance. One thousand of those are on the ground in Afghanistan.

The struggle against terrorism will be long and difficult. But we must ensure that our commitment to security does not close down the cherished openness of our societies, nor detract from the economic partnership enjoyed by Canadians and Americans.

After all, the economic linkages existing between our two countries are second to none: we do $1.3 billion worth of business each and every day — by far the world's largest and most comprehensive trade and economic partnership.

Before September 11^th, many of us laboured hard to reduce the cross-border cost of doing business. NAFTA broke down barriers to trade, contributing significantly to our booming economies over the past decade. However, should we succumb blindly to despair and introspection in the wake of September 11^th — I fear that the prosperity we have known will be reversed.

So we must be bold and creative. We must find intelligent ways to maintain our security at the Canada-U.S. border without damaging our enormous flows of commerce.

We must adopt a rational risk management approach. Neither country has the resources to monitor 5500 miles of border. But we do have the will, technology and wit to collaborate in identifying, apprehending and shutting-out threats to our societies.

I'm very confident that we are on the right track. The Director of U.S. Homeland Security, Governor Tom Ridge and Canada's Deputy Prime Minister, John Manley are making tremendous progress on an agreement to create a "smart border for the 21^st century between the United States and Canada." We will address security risks as partners; and we will do so while expediting the legitimate flow of people and goods across the Canada-U.S. border. In short, we will make the border more user-friendly for friendly users.

(And it is gratifying to see that many of the techniques developed in the Canada-U.S. approach are now being initiated on the U.S.-Mexico border following President Bush's visit to Monterrey two weeks ago.)

As Canada's ambassador in Washington, I consider it my responsibility to ensure that interrogation points at the border do not post dollar signs in the boardroom.

Before concluding, let me look briefly into the future and share with you some of Canada's thoughts on where we are going internationally.

In the Middle East, the spiral of violence is threatening peace and stability well beyond the confines of the current fighting. And it is having disastrous consequences for people on both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide. Canada has called on both parties to step back from the brink. Last week Canada endorsed the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1397 and 1402, and we greatly welcome Secretary Powell's mission to the region.

There are no excuses for terrorism. But there are circumstances in which terrorism can breed more easily.

The international community must work together to change these circumstances, especially in the Middle East, in this case, we must help the parties to find an exit strategy so they may return to the negotiating table.

On September 11^th, Americans and Canadians tragically reached a new understanding of how deeply world events affect their lives. The world matters to all of us — and we must not lose sight of an important reality: we, North Americans, also continue to matter to it. This is not a time for us to shrink back within our borders — but rather to renew our efforts to fulfill a long held promise of building a better world where all may live in freedom.

And as you know, the fight against terrorism is being waged on many fronts. Globally we are facing an astute and capable enemy with pervasive networks. I am looking forward to strong Canadian leadership with our chairmanship of the G-8 Summit of leading economies.

Prime Minister Chrétien has established the following themes for the meeting, to be held in June at Kananaskis, Alberta: maintaining the struggle against terrorism, strengthening global economic growth, and building a new partnership for Africa's development.

To our regret, a tragic lesson of 2001 is that failed states become prolific incubators for terrorists. The systematic abuse of a people either in the name of ideology or religion can escalate rapidly into an international security crisis. Inequality, injustice, poverty and oppression all contribute to instability and conflict. In the modern world, no country can isolate itself from this risk.

Confronting these challenges must constitute a central part of the foreign policy of all North Americans and the western world. We have seen a good example of this when President Bush announced a significant expansion of U.S. development assistance at the Monterrey conference last month. At the UN summit on development financing convened by Mexican President Vicente Fox, he committed the U.S. to increase aid funding levels by 50% — this sets the U.S. on a promising complementary path in the war on terrorism — by changing the circumstances.

But increased aid must be accompanied by a commitment from developing countries to adopt responsible, transparent and accountable practices based on democratic principles and the rule of law. There is no doubt in my mind that worldwide economic and democratic progress are ultimately the best guarantees we North Americans have for our own security.

To conclude, I would like to again express my appreciation to the leadership of the Minnesota International Center for their efforts in making this gathering possible.

I am extremely pleased to have had this opportunity to share with you my views on Canada's role as a steadfast bulwark in defending the North American homeland; as a stalwart ally in the global war against terrorism; and as a key economic partner for continental prosperity. Canada will continue to work with the United States towards these goals. Our interests are shared; our objectives are the same; and the future of our great partnership is more promising than ever. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you very much.