NEWS RELEASES
CANADA, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO SAY NORTH AMERICA IS IN A GOOD POSITION APPROACHING THE YEAR 2000
October 5, 1999
CANADA, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO SAY NORTH AMERICA IS IN A GOOD POSITION
APPROACHING THE YEAR 2000
Top Year 2000 officials from the governments of Canada, the United States and Mexico today announced they
are pleased with the progress being made in North America on Year 2000 readiness and confirmed they will
continue to collaborate through the Year 2000 rollover period.
The announcement came at the end of two days of bilateral and trilateral meetings in Ottawa where
delegations from the three countries discussed remaining Year 2000 challenges in their countries, including
outstanding issues for cross-border co-operation and management of the Year 2000 transition period.
"Interdependencies are an important part of Year 2000 readiness. Canada has given high priority to our
relationship with our NAFTA trading partners," said V. Peter Harder, Secretary of the Treasury Board of
Canada and head of the Canadian delegation. "During this most recent set of meetings, my colleagues and I
have reconfirmed our commitment to work together through the Year 2000 date change to minimize any
potential disruptions that could arise."
"Canada and Mexico have been leaders in meeting the Y2K challenge. As a result, we believe North America
will be well-prepared for the Year 2000," said John Koskinen, Chair of the U.S. President's Council on Year
2000 Conversion and head of the American delegation. "We have all benefited from the partnership on Y2K
that has developed among our respective countries and I look forward to continuing these constructive working
relationships through the date rollover."
"Mexico believes that international co-operation plays a key role to minimize Y2K related risks and improve
country readiness worldwide," said Norma Samaniego, Special Advisor to the Year 2000 National Conversion
Commission of Mexico and head of the Mexican delegation. "This Third Trilateral Meeting between Canada,
Mexico and the U.S. on Y2K co-operation issues represents one important step ahead in an effort to share
experiences, take advantage of common approaches and undertake joint actions to increase the state of
preparedness of the North American region."
In addition, Mr. Harder and Mr. Koskinen announced that a bilateral agreement had been reached to have
Canadian observers on-site in Washington and American observers on site in Ottawa over the Year 2000
transition period. Arrangements will be made for contact points to co-ordinate public communications between
the two countries. Further, Ms. Samaniego and Mr. Koskinen have agreed to establish a special
communications link between the United States and Mexico during the rollover period.
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For more information, contact:
Roxane Poulin, Media Relations
Year 2000 Project Office
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
(613) 952-3360
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
Jack Gribben
President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion
(202) 456-7010
Claudis Sous, Press Department
National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics
(52-2) 598-6692
TTY (Telecommunications device for the hearing impaired) (613) 957-9090
This document is also available on The Treasury Board Internet site http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/ and the
Government Enterprise Network (GENet) http://publiservice.tbs-sct.gc.ca
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