|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
      
|
Notes for an Address
by the Honourable John Manley, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Finance to the Rotary Club
Atlanta, GA
September 23, 2002
Check against delivery
I am very pleased to join members of the Atlanta Rotary Club here today, and I am truly delighted to be back in this gracious and dynamic city after a couple of years’ absence.
The tradition of friendship between Atlanta and Georgia, and my hometown of Ottawa, as with all of Canada, remains strong - and I’m pleased to say that this holds true on a personal level, as well. Governor Barnes and I have been working together for several years now, and have exchanged visits nearly every year - including, last time, a rather brave venture by Roy northward to Ottawa in the chilly month of December!
Gordon Giffin also bears special mention. As US Ambassador to Canada, Gordon became not only a regular interlocutor of mine, as we say in the diplomacy biz, but he and his wife Patti also became very good friends to Judith and myself.
This theme of friendship is important, because it is at the heart of this great, prosperous and highly evolved Canada-US relationship - not concepts of geopolitics, or mutual dependence, or of market integration - but a friendship that is as profound as it is complex.
The September 11 anniversary carried so many reminders of this. While memorials were held in Pennsylvania, Washington and New York - where many Canadian families joined in remembering their own loved ones, the 25 Canadians who perished in the WTC attacks - our Prime Minister and the US Ambassador, Gordon’s successor, Paul Cellucci, spent most of that day in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland on the easternmost tip of Canada. It was there that some 12,000 trans-Atlantic passengers, including those on Atlanta-bound Delta flights 15 and 129, suddenly found themselves grounded on the morning of September 11th. Atlanta Hartsfield is the busiest airport in the world - imagine a town of 10,000 suddenly finding itself the busiest landing strip in all of North America! Those passengers were among the 33,000 people - many of them American - whose flights were diverted to Canadian soil that day.
Most of them were unsure of what to expect. Canadians equally did not know what to expect. We only knew that terrorists were in North American skies. There was no way of knowing whether some of these diverted planes carried other madmen, when we agreed to the US’ request to accept the 224 flights - which we did without question, without hesitation.
That’s what friends do.
The stories - the beautiful letters, webpages and testimonials - that have come from the days of “the plane people”, as Canadians dubbed their unexpected guests, can still make you cry. Food and coffee, hot showers, nightclothes and warm beds, cell phones, toothbrushes and toys were found for all. One couple even got an impromptu wedding. These experiences are the very antithesis to the rending of our society, of our hope and of our strength that the terrorists tried to accomplish that day.
Deep and lasting friendships were formed in the wake of terrible tragedy. A group from one of the Atlanta flights, even created a scholarship fund - US$ 50,000 to date - to benefit the young people of Lewisporte, Newfoundland (population 4000) - paying this year for the education of 14 kids from that remote community.
My pride, and my gratitude, in speaking of these things is not as a politician - these were not the acts of government - but it is as a Canadian, for these were true acts of community, which had no bearing on national borders or political agreements. They were the pure essence of the values that unite our countries, our peoples - and a lesson to terrorists - that by attacking our values you will only make them stronger.
This past year has been one of much soul-searching in both our countries. Americans want to know how the 9/11 criminals came to live amongst them, some legally resident in the US for some time, and they want to know how to ensure that this never happens again. Canadians, for our part, were awakened to the reality that both our societies - and all free societies - are equally vulnerable. Terrorists have made use of the very things they aim to destroy - the liberties of our democracies, the openness and tolerance of our societies, the efficiencies of our banking systems and the opportunities of our economies - to target us.
But we have together fought back against terrorism with all the tools at our disposal - indeed with these very same instruments. Canadians value their liberty and, like Americans, will go to any lengths to protect it. That is why our government responded quickly to the attacks, and with force.
I was asked to coordinate the design and implementation of a new Canadian Anti-Terrorism Plan last fall. Supported by a $7.7 billion budget commitment last winter, the steps taken by Canada have included the passage of major new security legislation; strengthened policing, intelligence, screening and investigative capacities; the creation of more secure passports and permanent resident documentation; and the introduction of a new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
We have also recently initialled a final draft text, with the US of a “Third Safe Country Agreement”, which aims to eliminate the practice of ‘asylum shopping’ by refugee applicants, by allowing their return to the last ‘safe’ country from which they came. In Canada’s case, over 70% of all refugees that made a claim at our ports of entry have come from right here, in the United States.
In addition to these domestic actions, you will also know that several thousand Canadian armed forces personnel have fought side-by-side with American and other coalition forces to combat al-Qaeda on land, sea and in the air. Some of you may also know that Canadians have mourned the deaths of four of our soldiers, who lost their lives in Afghanistan in a terrible accident that has been in the news here lately.
But these are not the only ways that Canadians and Americans have shared in fighting terrorism. We have also made it our business to defy those who would destroy us by living our lives here at home - by moving forward and working our hardest to fulfill the promise of peace and opportunity that is the core strength of our both our economies and our societies.
And, in this, we’ve got a pretty good story to tell. There is no doubt as to the resilience, vibrancy and potential of our societies; and, looking at North America from the perspective of Canadian Finance Minister, I believe this holds equally true in economic terms.
The United States’ economy is recovering - slowly, perhaps, but steadily. While Canada’s continued economic strength, even through the global downturn of 2001, has been nothing short of stunning - not least to Canadians! I like to think that a new ‘northern tiger’ has been unleashed.
The continued resurgence of the Canadian economy - and by this I mean job creation statistics well beyond those in the US and most other countries; a 6th year of fiscal surplus; triple AAA investment upgrades from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s; and projections of the top growth of all G7 countries in 2002 and 2003 - has surpassed all expectations.
The new northern dynamism is good for Canada, but it is equally good for the US. We are, after all, two halves of the largest and most powerful trading relationship in the world, now running at some US$ 1.3 billion in cross-border trade every day - or US$ 475 billion each year. Canada sends 85% of our exports to this country, while we absorb 23% of yours.
Georgia is one of 38 US states that looks to Canada as its chief trading partner, sending over a quarter of its exports to our country. We are your principal foreign energy source, as with the rest of the US. And this state is equally important to Canada; one trade statistic that I just love is the US$ 2 billion in Canadian exports to... The Home Depot! - making this Atlanta-based company one of our top ten export markets worldwide, just about equal to France.
We can also look forward to my home province of Ontario and the southern USA being the leading proponents of a nascent intra-continental fight for doughnut supremacy, with your Krispy Kreme setting up shop in Canada (apparently police had to direct traffic on opening day in Mississauga), and our own Tim Hortons adding to its 150 franchises in the US.
Looking a little beyond deep-fried treats - taking a broad view of the Canada-US economic relationship - we can see that, since the introduction of NAFTA in 1994, trade between our countries has grown by an incredible 50%, while ever-growing cross-border investment has linked our economies even more tightly. This is an economic area marked by intense competition and dynamic synergies, by a shared commitment to leading-edge innovation and by a fearsome entrepreneurial spirit.
The picture is not, of course, 100% rosy - it probably never could be in a relationship of this magnitude and importance. While the overwhelming bulk of Canada-US trade is dispute-free, Canadians are troubled by some protectionist measures sought by certain lobbies in the United States, notably in the form of agricultural subsidies, restrictive trade in softwood lumber - which companies like Home Depot actually oppose - and, now potential action in wheat as well. The softwood and wheat postures are particularly disappointing when we know that Canadian trade practices have been vindicated repeatedly by WTO and NAFTA panels.
Even more important is the fact that the North American economy, and the North American people, have benefited enormously from our countries’ shared commitment to free trade. The results are indisputable, and we are confident that this will be the prevailing trend.
Speaking earlier this month with US Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, I was heartened by his confidence in the direction of the US’ recovery, including steps to restore investor sentiment, so damaged by Enron and similar scandals, and by his extremely positive assessment of the strength and stability coming from Canada’s own economic performance.
We are important to each other; it scarcely needs to be said. You have the economic statistics, but here’s a geographic one: who here knew that 27 US states are in fact positioned, in whole or in part, north of Canada’s southernmost point? In one part of Washington State, US citizens actually have to cross through Canadian territory to get to the rest of the USA.
It seems obvious, but we do sometimes need reminders, and September 11 was one, of how integral Canada and the US are to each other, and that North America’s prosperity is a vital part of its security, and vice-versa. The two are inexorably linked, and cannot exist in isolation from each other. The society of peace and opportunity that we all seek depends on us getting both right.
This is the philosophy that underpins the Canada-US ‘Smart Border’ agenda, which US Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and I have put in place over the past year.
The spectre of a closed, or even temporarily obstructed Canada-US border was a source of intense concern for both Canadians and Americans last fall. Neither side could afford a slowdown. We decided, however, to take the challenge further and, working across many agencies and departments in both countries, made this an opportunity to make our border work even better - smarter, more securely and more efficiently - than ever before.
Our goal, when Tom Ridge and I signed the Smart Border Declaration last December, was to re-shape the border security foundation using the latest technology and shared intelligence, all guided by the principle of risk-management. Effective risk management allows you to expedite the flow of low risk goods and people, and to focus your resources on higher risk traffic. The ‘smart’ in the smart border is about not having to choose between increased security and increased facilitation. You can have both.
We have already made tangible progress, as both President Bush and Prime Minister Chrétien affirmed in their recent summit at the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge - the single largest commercial crossing site in the world. Some US$ 120 billion in commerce travels that bridge, representing in a single corridor more trade than flows between all of the US and Japan.
Programs to safely expedite traffic across the border, like FAST for commercial shipments, and NEXUS for travellers, both of which are based on pre-screening and risk management, are already starting to benefit Canada and the US alike. These, coupled with greatly increased cooperation between our law enforcement, customs and immigration agencies, and significant new investments in border infrastructure as part of our 2001 Anti-Terrorism Plan, have ensured that the Canada-US border today remains a model for the world in every respect - and the symbol of an unparalleled friendship, just as it has always been.
Conclusion
There is no relationship in this world like that between Canada and the United States, like between the Canadian people and their American cousins. A 5000 mile frontier runs between our two countries; it is not always an easy road to travel, make no mistake. It is true that close friends, true friends, do not always agree on everything - how dull our history would be if we did! But we are bound by a trust that is deeply embedded in shared values, in common experience and in like aspirations. Whether in quest of our security, our prosperity or our freedom, the destinies of Canada and the United States are inescapably linked. This is not only a chance of geography, but a choice, as well. Our only choice.
Thank you.
| | ||||
| Last Updated: 2003-01-09 |
|
||||
