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	Perspectives, Spring 2006: Excerpts from recent speeches by members of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives Perspectives, April 18, 2006
	Focused and Realistic Throne Speech Agenda Will Help Build Competitive Economy, Business Leaders Say Communiqués, April 4, 2006

The Canada-United States and North American free trade agreements have proven to be extraordinary successes for Canada, the United States and Mexico. They have increased investment, employment and incomes in all three countries. But issues of trade and investment are now inextricably intertwined with those of defence and security. The need for a comprehensive North American strategy integrating economic and security issues led the CCCE to launch its North American Security and Prosperity Initiative (NASPI) in January 2003. This initiative proposes a strategy with five major elements:

• Reinventing borders
• Maximizing regulatory efficiencies
• Negotiation of a comprehensive resource security pact
• Reinvigorating the North American defence alliance
• Creating a new institutional framework

The CCCE believes that Canada’s interests, as well as those of the United States and Mexico, will be served best by a strategy that is continental in its scope, comprehensive in its approach, and coherent in its development and execution. While progress on some issues may require negotiations on a bilateral basis, the heart of Canada’s strategy for North America must remain trilateral. And to develop and execute a winning strategy, Canada must ensure coherence both within the federal government and across all levels of government.

Consistent with this vision, the CCCE in April 2004 published a major discussion paper titled New Frontiers: Building a 21st Century Canada-United States Partnership in North America. Some of the paper’s 15 recommendations expand on the NASPI framework in areas such as tariff harmonization, rules of origin, trade remedies, energy strategy, core defence priorities and the need to strengthen Canada-United States institutions, including the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD). Other recommendations focus on the process for developing and executing a comprehensive strategy, including the need for greater coordination across government departments, between federal and provincial governments and between the public and private sectors.

In addition to its own research and advocacy in this area, the CCCE was a key supporter of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America, a trilateral panel sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. The final report of the task force put forward 39 specific recommendations aimed at making North America safer, creating a single economic space, spreading the benefits of economic development more evenly, and institutionalizing the North American partnership.

In March 2005, the leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico launched the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, a comprehensive agreement that advances the North American agenda in a multitude of concrete and practical ways that will improve the safety and economic wellbeing of Canadians and of our neighbours in North America. The CCCE strongly welcomed the partnership agenda, calling it a “a bold step forward that will produce real gains for people in all three countries.”

The CCCE is also a strong supporter of the Canada-Mexico Partnership (CMP), which was launched during the visit of President Vicente Fox to Ottawa in October 2004. Among other contributions, the CCCE has agreed to work closely with its Mexican counterpart, the Consejo Mexicano de Hombres de Negocios, to ensure effective business support in realizing the ambitious goals of the CMP.