Home The Ambassador Canada's chief representatives to the U.S. Michael Kergin Ambassador Kergin's Speeches October 23, 2003

Partners for Progress

Asael E. and Maydell C. Palmer Annual Lecture Brigham Young University

Provo, Utah
October 23, 2003

It is a singular honour to be introduced by Professor Fry. I had taken some comfort, reading the tremendous bibliography of his publications, thinking that I might encounter someone who was a little older than me.

Well, he graduated from his first university degree about the same year as I! He has accomplished so much in such a short time. I pale in comparison!

I am particularly proud to be delivering the Asael and Maydell Palmer Lecture. Asael Palmer was a great Canadian scientist and agriculturalist. His contributions were especially important to the rural community where he lived and served. Western Canada is a real beneficiary of his life and work.

It is also a pleasure to be here in Provo, Utah — a spectacular part of the country and one that I have hoped to visit for some time. Utah holds great attraction for Canadians — well over 100,000 of us visit these parts each year. Majestic surroundings aside, many Canadians are also pulled by the strong ties Utah has with Canada, in particular with western Canada.

These connections range from familial — the town of Leavitt, Alberta is named after the governor's ancestors; to cultural — the Sundance Film Festival is a key showcase for Canadian film makers; to the thriving trade between Utah and Canada (which totalled about $2 billion last year).

And here at Brigham Young University, the Canadian Studies Program, established by Dr. Fry in 1980, grew from the collaborative efforts of BYU's Delbert Palmer and the University of Alberta's Brigham Card. BYU houses one of the greatest collections of Canadian literature in the U.S., and more Canadian students choose to pursue higher education at Brigham Young University than anyplace else in the U.S.

These academic, as well as cultural, military and commercial exchanges contribute to the strength of both countries; they are the bedrock of the Canada-U.S. relationship. When Einstein wrote that, "friendship is a partnership," he could well have been describing the Canada-U.S. relationship.

Because in so doing, he neatly captured the idea that the foundation of the relationship lies in friendship. But friendship also carries an obligation or a commitment which is at the root of any viable partnership.

And this commitment must be to the citizens of both our countries — a commitment to provide them with greater security, prosperity and an improved quality of life.

These goals are readily attainable when our respective leaders cooperate together and our citizens maintain close ties.

I am happy to report that with regard to Canada and the U.S., such is the case.

Two years ago, when we awoke to the scourge of terrorism on North American soil — the same terrorism which has wreaked devastation across the globe — security became the greatest preoccupation for both governments.

In this difficult war fought on so many levels, the U.S. has no greater ally than Canada. Both abroad and at home, our commitment is clear.

Canada was among the first to join the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, operating seamlessly with U.S. troops in crucial stages of the war. We participated in special operations where highly sophisticated Canadian expertise made important contributions to the war against the Taliban under the command of the 101st airborne — the only nation to do so.

Canada returned to Afghanistan just last August, joining NATO's international security assistance force (ISAF) with our single largest military contribution since the Korean War. Canada is rotating about 4000 troops through ISAF over the year — constituting the largest non-U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. And we will take command of ISAF in January.

Canadian troops have taken on a dangerous yet crucial role — giving stability and democracy a fighting chance in that unhappy country. The recent loss of Canadian lives in no way diminishes our commitment.

In Iraq, our representatives in Baghdad are exploring how best to synchronize our assistance with that of the U.S. and other coalition members. We were among the first countries to announce reconstruction assistance in to post-conflict Iraq.

By June, Canada announced a $225 million financial contribution for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Iraq. Ten days ago Canada announced that it will give an additional $35 million to international NGOs to help improve access to basic social and economic services in an effort to create greater social stability in Iraq.

Aware of the capacity for terrorist elements to proliferate in regions bereft of peace, order and good governance, we are determined both to help alleviate human suffering and to improve the security environment.

Many decades ago, during the cold war, Canada and the U.S. jointly developed the North American Aerospace Defence Agreement, or NORAD, to enhance continental security against the threat of soviet bombers. NORAD is just as relevant today.

Because rogue states are developing missile capabilities, Canadians and Americans work side by side at NORAD's joint headquarters in Colorado Springs, providing air defence and warning of missile threats to North America originating anywhere in the world.

(In fact the morning of 9/11, it was the Canadian watch office, under Canadian command, which directed NORAD's initial response to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. by clearing airspace and scrambling fighters from both countries.)

And now, Canada and the U.S. are maintaining the proud tradition begun with the 1941 Ogdensburg Agreement by exploring the potential for further partnership — joint progress on developing missile defence capability to enhance continental security.

Domestically, Canada is also hard at work to improve North American security. We have frozen terrorists' assets and introduced legislation to obstruct their fundraising. We have tightened refugee regulations to ensure improved compliance and surveillance, and landmark legislation has given Canada's law enforcement agencies additional tools with which to shut down terrorist organizations.

However, I would say that the area in which we have made the greatest progress since 9/11 has been at our shared border. And this border has long been the envy of the international community.

Over 80 years ago, Sir Winston Churchill remarked that, "That long frontier from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, guarded only by neighbourly respect and honourable obligations is an example to every country and a pattern for the future of the world."

Despite the new security measures required in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, our border continues to be less a dividing line between two countries than a testament to the enterprising spirit of two successful partners.

And, I submit, that it continues to serve as a blueprint for good neighbours everywhere.

The Smart Border Agreement, signed by Governor Ridge and Deputy Prime Minister Manley in December 2001, is a partnership which extends beyond our two federal governments to include the private sector and an array of local, regional and federal agencies on both sides of the border.

The Smart Border Agreement encompasses over 30 innovative measures for improving security and efficiency, and covers everything from customs officials operating in each other's sea ports, agreements on refugee and visa issues, improved infrastructure and increased information-sharing among law enforcement and intelligence officials.

Excellent progress has been made by adopting a risk management approach at the border and coupling it with advanced technologies.

Risk management means that you use intelligence and shared information to reach a common understanding of who poses a risk; advanced technologies allow you to monitor electronically the low-risk users of the border so as to concentrate intensive human resources on the higher-risk candidates — in effect making the border more user friendly for friendly users.

This unique approach to a 5500-mile common border was developed by hard work, pragmatism and, above all, a sense that cooperation trumps confrontation.

Now that's what I call partnership!

A more secure and efficient border also enables us to keep up with the enormous surge in commercial traffic between Canada and the U.S.: the result of our free trade agreement and later NAFTA — some 80% of this $450 billion annual commerce comes by surface transport. Since NAFTA came into effect in 1989, trade between Canada and the U.S. has more than doubled.

Now that's what I call progress!

This trend is also reflected in Utah's trade with Canada. Last year, because of a large sale of Bombardier regional jets to Skywest Airlines, Canada exported about as much to Utah as to Mexico. Salt Lake City-based Iomega has several of Canada's largest companies as clients, including the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal. And Canadian investors have shown tremendous interest in property and resource development in Utah.

With an economy less than a tenth the size of the U.S. economy, Canada imports about one fifth of all U.S. exported goods — more than Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy, China and Hong Kong combined!

Yet our innovative free trade agreements have done more than permit rapid trade growth; they have accelerated the pace of economic integration. Canadian and U.S. companies increasingly view NAFTA as a collectivity. They make investment and production decisions taking advantage of the respective strengths of each one of the NAFTA partners.

In the steel industry for instance, Canada and the U.S. are each other's best, most secure and reliable customers, with two-way trade amounting to about $7 billion annually. Producers on both sides of the border buy their raw materials from the same suppliers and often share ownership of the same sources of supply.

At the last NAFTA trade ministers meeting in Montreal, Mexico agreed to join its two partners in looking at the prospects of an integrated North American steel market.

The Canada-U.S. energy market is another example of a win-win situation. Canada is far and away the largest foreign energy supplier to the U.S.

With instability in the middle east, it should give some peace of mind to know that 94% of your natural gas imports, close to 100% of your electricity imports, and more crude and refined oil products than any other foreign supplier (including Saudi Arabia), come from your friendly neighbour next door.

Here in the west, you are probably aware of the enormous energy imports that come from north of the 49th parallel — from British Columbia and Alberta as well as the territories and Alaska.

The pending energy legislation in congress will further our mutually profitable energy relationship. But this energy partnership depends on unfettered trade, free from price distorting subsidies which we hope will be removed from the senate version of the energy bill.

A new and important source of western energy will come from private sector plans to build natural gas pipelines from Alaska and the Mackenzie Valley. Canada believes that the market badly needs this energy and will provide the large amounts of capital required to develop these exciting energy sources. The Mackenzie Delta gas pipeline, which could come on stream as early as 2008, will be built without subsidies.

There is no doubt that economic integration has lowered production costs through the laws of comparative advantage, making us more competitive internationally. The corollary is that when challenges do occur, we must address them cooperatively and together.

Never has this been more true than last summer, following the discovery of a single case of BSE in a Canadian cow. For over 20 years our beef industry, with its similar regulatory standards and high quality, has been one of the greatest beneficiaries of economic integration. So this incident has had an important impact on both sides of the border.

While the U.S. has recognized the safety of Canadian beef and has resumed imports of Canadian beef and game, trade in live cattle has yet to begin — largely due to pressure from third markets in Asia. The absence of cattle imports from Canada is exacerbating the already tight supply of U.S. beef, putting some additional pressure on prices. In the U.S., meat packing plants are currently hardest hit by this.

I understand that Utah is among the three states with the greatest purchases of Canadian cattle. I am pleased to report, therefore, that we are working actively with our U.S. friends for more realistic standards to govern international trade in beef affected by highly restricted incidents of BSE such as the case in Canada or as might occur here in the U.S.

At almost $450 billion in trade per year, or $1.3 billion every single day, Canadian-U.S. trade is the largest partnership in the world. For such an extensive trading relationship, ours is relatively friction-free.

The disputes which tend to garner so much attention, like softwood lumber or wheat, while important, comprise less than 2% of the commercial activity between our countries. And even then, when we are at loggerheads, we can turn to the dispute mechanisms that we built into the NAFTA and the WTO.

That said, a bilaterally negotiated settlement of such disputes as softwood lumber or wheat are far preferable to the frustratingly lengthy, costly and onerous battles waged through international litigation.

With all due respect to international trade lawyers, government officials come far cheaper!

Canada-U.S. ground-breaking environmental agreements are yet another example of the progressive thinking which marks our partnership. The visionary boundary waters treaty and accompanying International Joint Commission (IJC) are as important today as they were at their inception in 1909.

I know that in Utah, you are concerned about air pollution moving in from outside the state. Canada has had similar concerns. With the 1991 Air Quality Agreement, Canada and the United States are successfully reducing emissions of major pollutants that caused acid rain — a veritable scourge for delicate aquatic plant life and the associated food chain.

A direct derivative of that agreement, the border air quality strategy announced in June, will greatly improve our understanding of pollutants and air movement. This is a marvellous example of the North American partnership which involves federal, state and provincial governments, first nations and local communities.

You also may be familiar with the North American waterfowl management plan, which in the U.S. falls under the North American wetlands conservation act. The plan brings together the private sector with governments, both at the national and sub-national levels, to conserve essential habitat for the migratory birds which carry no passports and for which our national boundaries have no meaning.

Underpinning these many partnerships — in security, in trade, in energy, and in environment — is a network of consulates throughout the U.S. they form the relay points for business, cultural and political connections linking our two countries.

Last month, the Canadian government announced the phased opening of seven new consulates and the appointment of some 20 honorary consuls in the U.S. there is no better evidence of the growing importance of this relationship to Canada.

The success of this partnership is rooted in hard work. And it has been marked by a commitment by both sides to improve the well being of our North American citizens.

To improve security, we have fought terrorism abroad and at home, and are looking at new ways of deepening cooperation through NORAD. We have developed innovative procedures to make our border at once more safe and efficient.

To enhance our economies, we developed the free trade agreement. This has surpassed our expectations in every respect.

And to better our quality of life, we have jointly safeguarded our shared environment for almost a century. This, perhaps, is the most important and enduring of legacies, provided we stay the course of partnership.

Harry Truman once said that "Progress occurs when courageous, skilful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better."

Our many achievements would not have been possible without the thoughtful and brave political leadership President Truman wrote about. In the coming months, after Prime Minister Chrétien retires, Canadians will be asked to choose a new Prime Minister. A change in leadership will doubtlessly bring with it a fresh mandate and a desire to explore new avenues for progress in Canada-U.S. cooperation.

At the same time, the granite foundation of our relationship has never cracked or weakened. Indeed, the myriad cross-border connections created by our citizens over the decades have given this partnership strength and prosperity.

Together, they have confronted challenges, created opportunities and promoted progress. I have every confidence, therefore, Canadians and Americans will forever succeed as partners for progress.

Thank you.