Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
International

Canada, U.S. Hoping For Progress On Border Preclearance For Monday Meeting

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 11 Feb, 2017 02:16 PM
    OTTAWA — Canada hopes to cement progress on keeping the border open to trade and travellers when Justin Trudeau visits Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump, whose controversial travel ban measures recently created considerable confusion at the 49th parallel.
     
    The two countries have been pecking away for years at a list of items intended to bolster continental security while ensuring the speedy flow of goods and people across the border.
     
    During his first year in office, Trudeau built on the efforts of predecessor Stephen Harper to implement programs set out in the December 2011 Beyond the Border agreement forged by Ottawa and Washington.
     
    The new U.S. president's strong emphasis on homeland security and extreme vetting of newcomers — spelled out in an executive order on immigration — caught many in Canada off guard and resulted in the cancellation of about 200 Nexus trusted-traveller cards held by Canadian permanent residents.
     
    The cards have since been reinstated, but the outcome remains unclear pending court decisions.
     
    Canada is expected to seek assurances from the U.S. on a willingness to work together in a way that avoids such unpleasant hiccups, and keeps mutual projects on track, in the months and years ahead.
     
    "We're going to talk about all sorts of things we align on, like jobs and economic growth, opportunities for the middle class — the fact that millions of good jobs on both sides of our border depend on the smooth flow of goods and services across that border," Trudeau said Friday.  
     
     
    "We're also, I'm sure, going to talk about things ... we disagree on, and we'll do it in a respectful way."
     
    Multiple sources in Ottawa and Washington say the Trudeau government wants to make early progress on key files. The overall goal: to carve an early path and get the two countries moving on trade priorities.
     
    Both sides announced last March they would proceed with customs preclearance initiatives aimed at making border processing easier for low-risk travellers. Canada is keen to come away from Monday's visit with confirmation of those plans.
     
    The preclearance arrangements would increase the American customs presence on Canadian soil and are expected to see Canada eventually establish similar operations in the United States.
     
    Currently, passengers flying to American cities through eight major Canadian airports can be precleared there by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
     
     
    Preclearance would be expanded to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Quebec City's Jean Lesage International Airport, as well as for rail service in Montreal and Vancouver.
     
    Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said that during her recent meetings in Washington she stressed making trade easier with Canada, including extending preclearance for product shipments.
     
    "Our conversations focused on ways to make that border thinner,'' she said.
     
    "We talked about preclearance for cargo as an area that we might want to be working on, going forward."
     
    Scott Reid, a former official who worked in the Prime Minister's Office of Paul Martin, called such a strategy unsurprising and logical. The last thing Canada wants is its fundamental foreign relationship vulnerable to the improvised whims of a uniquely unpredictable president.
     
    "There's no question that the less predictable the personal relationship will be — because the president is new and, frankly, unlike any other president who's ever held the office — then by definition your obvious protection against all of that, your protection against caprice, is process," Reid said.
     
     
    "It's process that's moving. And that's got its own momentum. So that you sit down and say, 'Well, we've got the tracks laid down here to help move along on three issues.'
     
    "You want to create a momentum that builds and sustains itself, almost."

    MORE International ARTICLES

    5 Dead, 8 Injured After Shooting At Fort Lauderdale Airport In Florida

    5 Dead, 8 Injured After Shooting At Fort Lauderdale Airport In Florida
    Authorities say five people were killed and eight were wounded after a lone suspect opened fire at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, international airport.

    5 Dead, 8 Injured After Shooting At Fort Lauderdale Airport In Florida

    Founder of India’s Top LGBTQ Magazine, Gaylaxy, Bags Sher Vancouver's Youth Leadership Award

    Founder of India’s Top LGBTQ Magazine, Gaylaxy, Bags Sher Vancouver's Youth Leadership Award
    For the LGBTQ community in India, 2016 was a brutal year that witnessed defeat of many attempts to revoke Section 377 of India’s penal code.

    Founder of India’s Top LGBTQ Magazine, Gaylaxy, Bags Sher Vancouver's Youth Leadership Award

    US Army Allows Turbans, Beards, Hijabs In Military

    US Army Allows Turbans, Beards, Hijabs In Military
    The US Army has issued a new regulation under which servicemen who wear turbans, hijabs or beards can now be enrolled in the military, making the force more inclusive of minority religions and cultures.

    US Army Allows Turbans, Beards, Hijabs In Military

    Cop Body-Slammed Teen Girl To Floor. Shocking Video Goes Viral

    Cop Body-Slammed Teen Girl To Floor. Shocking Video Goes Viral
    As two girls fought in the cafeteria area of a North Carolina high school, another student raised her cellphone to make a video. She sparked a furor when she captured a police officer picking up and slamming down a student to the floor.

    Cop Body-Slammed Teen Girl To Floor. Shocking Video Goes Viral

    Donald Trump Appoints Raj Shah To White House Post As His Deputy Assistant

    Donald Trump Appoints Raj Shah To White House Post As His Deputy Assistant
    US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed an expert on strategic communications and political research, Raj Shah, as his deputy assistant and research director on the White House staff.

    Donald Trump Appoints Raj Shah To White House Post As His Deputy Assistant

    Family Of Montreal Woman Killed By Dog Suing Canine's Owner

    Family Of Montreal Woman Killed By Dog Suing Canine's Owner
    MONTREAL — The family of a woman who died after being attacked by a dog says it plans to sue the canine's owner.

    Family Of Montreal Woman Killed By Dog Suing Canine's Owner