NEWS RELEASES

March 9, 1998 No. 47

CANADA APPOINTS NEW CHIEF NEGOTIATOR

FOR THE PACIFIC SALMON TREATY

Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy and the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, David Anderson, today announced the appointment of Canada's Chief Negotiator for the Pacific Salmon Treaty, Professor Donald M. McRae. Professor McRae will be responsible for the overall direction and co-ordination of negotiations with the Government of the United States regarding Pacific salmon.

Canada's immediate priority will be to achieve interim fishing arrangements before the next fishing season. Professor McRae will negotiate a framework for long-term implementation of the principles of Article III of the Pacific Salmon Treaty and oversee a review of the Pacific Salmon Commission. He will be supported by a team of senior representatives from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, along with a group of expert advisors.

"As Chief Negotiator, Professor McRae's expertise in the field of international law and in dispute settlement will assist us in reaching a negotiated solution," said Minister Axworthy. "Although this has been a long-standing dispute, we firmly believe that negotiations are the best avenue to settle this issue and conserve the salmon, which represent a way of life for many people on the West Coast."

"The conservation of Pacific salmon is Canada's number one priority in this dispute. To conserve salmon and ensure a sustainable fishery for Canadian fishers, Canada and the United States must agree on interim fishing arrangements before the start of the 1998 fishing season," said Minister Anderson. "Once this is accomplished, we need long-term fishing arrangements based on the principles of the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Professor McRae has the experience needed to ensure that these goals are achieved. I have written to Premier Glen Clark inviting him to participate in this process."

Bilateral negotiations were rejuvenated by a joint report of the Special Representatives for Pacific Salmon, Dr. David Strangway of Canada and William Ruckelshaus of the United States. Their report was released January 12, 1998.

Currently Chair of Business and Trade Law at the University of Ottawa, Professor McRae was formerly Professor and Associate Dean of Law at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in the field of international law, and has been Advisor and Counsel for Canada in international fishery and boundary arbitrations. Professor McRae has sat on a number of dispute settlement panels under the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.

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A biographical note is attached.

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Debora Brown

Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

(613) 995-1851

Athana Mentzelopoulos

Office of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans

(613) 992-3474

Media Relations Office

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

(613) 995-1874

This document is also available on the Department's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Donald M. McRae, LLB (Otago), LLM (Otago), Dipl. Int. Law (Cant.), of the Bars of New Zealand and Ontario, holds the Hyman Soloway Chair in Business and Trade Law and is the former Dean of the Common Law Section, University of Ottawa. He was formerly Professor and Associate Dean at the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in international law and has been Advisor to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Counsel for Canada in several international fishery and boundary arbitrations. He was Chair of the first dispute settlement panel set up under Chapter 18 of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and has sat on subsequent panels under Chapters 18 and 19 of the FTA. He was also Chair of the first dispute settlement panel set up under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement. He is currently on the roster of panelists under Chapter 19 of the North American Free Trade Agreement and on the Indicative List of Panelists of the World Trade Organization. His publications are principally in the field of international law, and he is Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Yearbook of International Law. Professor McRae teaches contracts, international law and international trade law.