PM looks at tightening Ottawa's ties with U.S. [View All]

[Minstrel Boy]

PM looks at tightening Ottawa's ties with U.S.
by Drew Fagan
Globe and Mail

The Martin government is moving toward major new steps to co-ordinate economic and security policy more closely with the United States in an initiative that likely would not get under way until after a federal election.

As Prime Minister Paul Martin gets set to chair the first meeting of his cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations today, federal officials say measures are being examined with Washington ranging from additional steps to jointly fight bio-terrorism and build cross-border infrastructure to closer co-operation in a range of economic areas. These include pharmaceutical oversight, food safety standards and e-commerce regulation.

Ottawa is also discussing ways to build on the North American free-trade agreement by more closely co-ordinating policy with Washington about trade with other countries, and by expanding the range of workers who could be employed in either country.

...

Mr. Martin has been vague about what kind of policy he intends to pursue with Washington, beyond saying he wants a more constructive relationship that avoids the backbiting that occurred toward the end of the Jean Chrétien regime. He has spoken repeatedly about increasing the range of cross-border contacts, including structured meetings of parliamentarians and Congress members.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040224.wxneighbour24/BNStory/Front/

This is very dangerous ground for Martin to tread pre-election. Canadians are extremely suspicious of the Bush regime - only 15% support in a recent poll, and nearly 70% say the US under Bush is acting like a bully - and felt a good deal of pride at how, in his last year, Chretien defied the White House. Couple this with Martin's willingness to head down the star wars road, and US-Canadian relations is likely to be one of the defining issues of the coming election. At least, the NDP will try to make it so.

And in an unrelated, yet related, story:

Halt high-speed cross-border chases, MPs urge Ottawa
by Gloria Galloway
Globe and Mail

Ottawa — The federal government is being urged by MPs in border communities to make it clear to American police that car chases into Canada will not be tolerated after the second such incident in less than a year turned deadly.

A woman was run down in Niagara Falls, Ont., last week by a suspect fleeing police who had tailed him across the border at high speeds from neighbouring Niagara Falls, N.Y. That incident occurred less than a year after plainclothes officers from the Michigan State Police surrounded a car on Canadian soil near a customs inspection station in Windsor, Ont., and arrested a suspect at gunpoint.

A few weeks after that arrest last June, a Detroit officer who was apparently trying to hide a concealed Glock pistol under his front seat during a search by Canadian customs officers at the Windsor border accidentally shot himself in the knee. He was eventually discharged from the force, but Ron Moran, the head of Canada's Customs Excise Union, said the incident is indicative of a disrespect by U.S. police for Canadian law.

"There are two different locations here where there has been a total disregard for sovereignty, so we need to have the ambassador brought in and we need to start talking about this," said Brian Masse, a New Democrat MP from Windsor. He and Joe Comartin, a fellow NDP MP, are urging a public inquiry into the cross-border violations. "There's something systemic here. There is something to be really concerned about," said Mr. Masse, who told the House of Commons yesterday that the death of Lori Bishop, 40, was "a tragedy waiting to happen."
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040224.wxborder24/BNStory/Front/