August 4, 2011 – Canada and the United States face a rare window of opportunity to reduce security risks and foster more fruitful flows of commerce across their common border, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Beyond the Border and Back to the Future: Seizing the Opportunity to Enhance Canadian and US Economic Growth and Security,” author Daniel Schwanen says efforts underway to improve cross-border flows can succeed – if the two countries build lasting mechanisms to enhance cooperation and protect individual rights.
Leaders in Canada and the United States have announced an ambitious vision for perimeter security and economic competitiveness, which will include a multi-year Action Plan to turn the vision into reality. The vision, says Schwanen, is centered on the idea that conducting inspection and other formalities, well before shipments and people arrive at the busy bilateral border, will ease costly delays there, and that this can be achieved while enhancing security and reducing costs.
Given the high degree of personal and trade interaction between the two economies, which requires frequent border crossings, the initiative makes sense, says Schwanen. However, the Action Plan could be derailed if it does not pay attention to overarching considerations such as protecting individual rights and guarding against the misuse of confidential information. It may also suffer, if left to the vagaries of the political attention span, from insufficient momentum.
Schwanen proposes light, joint, mechanisms dedicated to making the vision a success. They include:
- a dedicated bilateral office, tasked with implementing the plan, reporting to the two federal governments but working in cooperation with communities, agencies, sub-federal levels of government, and legislators;
- an independent annual audit of security practices on both sides of the border, to provide joint, evidenced-based assessment of mutually acceptable levels of security;
- an annual independent audit of border-related practices, aimed at informing governments on the effectiveness of resources dedicated to secure, efficient border passage;
- an ombudsperson, with authority to inquire about and prod agencies to redress misuse of information collected and shared for the purpose of border security clearance; and
- a “single window” of information and assistance for small businesses and others, to reduce costs of pre-clearance and traceability requirements.
Schwanen concludes that these new mechanisms can draw inspiration from existing ones that help provide the mutual trust, dedication and expertise necessary to successfully manage water issues between Canada and the United States.
Click here for the full report.
For more information contact:
Daniel Schwanen, Associate Vice President, International and Trade Policy;
Philippe Bergevin, Policy Analyst;
C.D. Howe Institute, 416-865-1904; email: cdhowe@cdhowe.org.