Bringing Order to the Border: The Niagara

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TORONTO 002838

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PBTS PTER PINR KPAO PREL CA
SUBJECT: Bringing Order to the Border: The Niagara
Triangle Integrated Border Enforcement Team

REF: (A) State 163356 (B) Toronto 2451
(C) Toronto 2469

Sensitive but Unclassified - Protect accordingly.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: At a ConGen Toronto-hosted October
13, 2005, dinner meeting in Toronto, border and law
enforcement officials from the Buffalo/Niagara region
expressed pride in the continued effectiveness of cross-
border cooperation in combating transnational crime.
The guests, which also included the newly appointed
Consul General in Buffalo, Steven Brereton, and ConGen
Toronto section chiefs exchanged ideas and updated each
other on:

--the challenges presented by the Western Hemisphere
Travel Initiative;

--ongoing negotiations to establish co-located
preclearance facilities at Fort Erie and Alexandria
Bay, NY;

--recent success of Project Shiprider in the
Detroit/Windsor region;

--shortcomings associated with the NEXUS, FAST and C-
TPAT programs;

--gun smuggling problems;

--the expansion of the Child Exploitation Tracking
System (CETS) computer program;

--the importance of public diplomacy in the group's
work;

--the status of the new law enforcement hub at the
Consulate Annex; and

--upcoming meetings of interest to law enforcement,
e.g., Project North Star October 26 and 27 and the 2006
FBI National Academy Associates Annual Training
Conference in Toronto July 14-19, 2005. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) On October 13, 2005, the Consul General hosted
a dinner at the residence in honor of the Niagara
Triangle Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) from
New York and Ontario, leading provincial Canadian law
enforcement officials and ConGen Toronto Pol/Econ, PA
and CA section heads. The purpose of the gathering was
to review and enhance areas of bi-lateral and inter-
agency cooperation and to introduce the newly-appointed
Canadian Consul General to Buffalo, Steven Brereton.
(NOTE: Participants list is at para 15 and bio for
Brereton, a career Foreign Service officer with a
distinguished trade background, is at para 16. END
NOTE)


3. (U) After welcoming the guests, introducing members
of the ConGen Toronto staff, including several new
members of the ConGen Toronto law enforcement team, and
giving an overview of the respective work mandates, the
Consul General expressed her appreciation for IBET's
work and the successful model the team had established
for emulations elsewhere. She emphasized the
importance of unimpeded law-enforcement-to-law-
enforcement communications and pledged her Consulate's
support to this end, as did Canadian Consul General
Brereton. All present agreed the accomplishments of
cross-border law enforcement cooperation, including the
IBET team, were something to be proud of. (Note:
Operational matters are not covered in this message,
which was cleared by ConGen Toronto law enforcement
officers. End Note.)

The Western Hemispheric Travel Initiative (WHTI)
-------------- ---


4. (SBU) The American side explained the U.S. position
on WHTI, drawing on the points from ref (A). Canadian
Consul General Brereton emphasized the shared objective
of ensuring a secure border through such initiatives as
the IBETs. However, the WHTI as drafted posed serious
risks to communities along the northern border, such as
in the Niagara region, where cross border travel was
essential to their economic well-being. Appreciation
for this environment would help in shaping the
requirement and, to this end, several events are being
planned, to help raise awareness of the potential
impact of the WHTI on northern border communities.
Principals of affordability and timely accessibility
should guide the development of any new documentary
requirement in order to minimize the impact on
legitimate travel and border (NOTE: Canadian Ambassador
Frank McKenna's September 26 statement to the Canadian
Chamber of Commerce at Prince Edward Island that the
WHTI could cost Canada 7.7 million visits and C$2
billion in revenue was cited several times during the
evening. END NOTE). Maurice Pilon, Deputy
Commissioner, Ontario Provincial Police, believed that
Premier McGuinty's and Governor Granholm's proposal for
a standardized, security-enhanced drivers' license
could be made acceptable to critics, to include encoded
information on place of birth.

Ft Erie/Alexandria Bay Pre-Clearance Facilities
-------------- --


5. (SBU) Peter Smith, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Special Agent in Charge of the Office of
Investigations in Williamsville, NY, described the
ongoing bilateral discussions to establish co-located
pre-clearance facilities at the Fort Erie and
Alexandria Bay border crossings between Ontario and New
York. Smith said there are several important issues
that remain to be ironed out before U.S. border
enforcement officials could be physically located on
Canadian soil. Among others, U.S. officials maintained
they needed to have (1) the right of first refusal; (2)
the right to install monitoring equipment on vehicles
entering the U.S.; (3) the right to work with someone
who volunteers to cooperate in an ongoing
investigation; and (4) the right for U.S. law
enforcement officials to carry firearms in the
preclearance area. Smith said these issues will be
discussed during the next negotiating session (in
Washington on October 19 and 20) to conclude a formal
Canada-U.S. Land Pre-clearance Agreement as envisioned
in the June 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership
Report to Leaders by the end of this year in order to
further streamline the secure movement of low-risk
traffic across our shared border.

Project Shiprider
--------------


6. (SBU) RCMP Assistant Commissioner J.C.M. Seguin
described the successful Project Shiprider program in
the Detroit-Windsor area where Canadian law enforcement
officers working onboard U.S. Coast Guard vessels were
sworn in as U.S. Customs officers, and U.S. law
enforcement officers working onboard Canadian vessels
were designated as RCMP Supernumerary Special
Constables. The U.S. and Canadian law enforcement
officers participating in the cross-border exchange
were able to carry their weapons during the exercise,
and some 160 vessels were boarded and inspected.
Seguin said Project Ship Rider had the added benefit of
showing the Canadians the equipment they lacked but
needed to patrol effectively Canada's maritime border.
As a result, he said, RCMP would be asking for
additional funding to procure equipment to bring their
operational capability to the level of the U.S. Coast
Guard.

NEXUS, FAST and C-TPAT Programs
--------------


7. (SBU) The CG advised the group that a decision had
been taken to open up C-TPAT to a limited number of
Canadian manufacturers for the first time and that
invitations to participate would be sent out shortly to
top manufacturers and shippers from Canada. While
applauding the NEXUS (for individuals) and FAST (for
truckers) travel facilitation initiatives, both
programs still had several limitations and bugs
associated with them in terms of processing and broad
applicability, e.g., the NEXUS card could not be used
at all entry points and the FAST advance paper
processing time penalties remained onerous.

Cross-Border Gun Smuggling
--------------


8. (SBU) Ambassador Wilkins's letter to Premier
McGuinty outlining ongoing and proposed areas of
cooperation had tempered unproductive rhetoric on cross-
border gun smuggling accusations arising out of
Toronto's spate of violent crimes in the summer, the
group agreed (refs (B) and (C)). Shared responsibility
was now the expressed guiding principle for
cooperation. The Consul General asked Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearm (ATF) Attache Regina Lombardo, the newest
member of the U.S. Consulate Toronto law enforcement
team, to review her efforts to facilitate cross-border
law enforcement cooperation to combat gun smuggling.
Lombardo described her work with the Provincial Weapons
Enforcement Unit (PWEU) to trace guns stolen or used in
the commission of a violent crime and advised that she
would be making a joint presentation with PWEU at the
upcoming North Star conference. (ICE Attache Healy and
A/LegAtts Dunn and Brogan also detailed their agencies'
cross-border coordination efforts and compared notes
with Canadian colleagues.)

Child Exploitation Tracking System
--------------


9. (SBU) The group discussed the benefits of the Child
Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) program developed
by Microsoft at the behest of the Toronto Police to
enable law enforcement agencies in Canada and
internationally to share case information and link
their efforts to identify and apprehend child
pornographers. ICE attach Healy advised that the
project had received Congressional funding and the
computer model was being looked at for application to
support law enforcement efforts in other important
enforcement areas.

Media Support and Public Diplomacy
--------------


10. (U) The agenda for the evening included a short
presentation by ConGen Public Affairs Officer Nick
Giacobbe on Consulate efforts to support law
enforcement press and public diplomacy needs. Stuart
Woodside, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent, Buffalo Sector,
U.S. Border Patrol, suggested the Consulate participate
in the IBET spring media debut, an annual outreach
event to publicize joint border enforcement efforts
before the boating season begins.

Toronto's Law Enforcement Hub
--------------


11. (SBU) A/Legatt Brogan reported all of ConGen
Toronto's law enforcement agents would be co-located in
the Consulate annex by the end of November to improve
communications and coordination among U.S. law
enforcement agencies with Canadian counterparts. He
reminded the group of the 2006 FBI National Academy
Associates Annual Training Conference, hosted by the
Toronto Police Service in Toronto from July 14-19,

2006. Peter J. Ahearn, Special Agent In Charge,
Buffalo Division, advised that his office was
coordinating the event and would ensure that country
clearance procedures were observed.

Upcoming Law Enforcement Events
--------------


12. (U) The group noted the following special events
that would be of interest to those attending:

--Project North Star Region Coordination Group East
Meeting in Kingston, Ontario October 26-27;
--WHTI Town Hall meeting in Buffalo October 28;
--Spring IBET media debut probably at the Youngstown,
NY Coast Guard base; and
--2006 FBI National Academy Associates Annual Training
Conference in Toronto July 14-19, 2005.

Award Ceremony
--------------


13. (U) At the conclusion of the evening, the Consul
General presented a State Department Certificate of
Appreciation signed by the Ambassador to ICE attach
Craig Healy for his multiple actions of support to
American citizens ranging from expert handling of the
Consulate's duty calls, to assistance rendered to
families of the U.S. citizens in the August Air France
plane crash, to a call for help from a Hurricane
Katrina family that had relocated to Windsor, Ontario.


14. COMMENT: As one of the guests commented, IBET is
more than just a concept, it is a model of success for
law enforcement border management. If the evening's
discussion were any guide, we could not ask for better
communication and cooperation among and between
agencies on both sides of the border. END COMMENT.


15. (U) IBET Dinner Attendees included:

Canadian Consulate and Law Enforcement: Steve Brereton,
Canadian Consul General to Buffalo; Maurice Pilon,
Deputy Commissioner, Ontario Provincial Police; J.D.M.
(Michel) Seguin, Assistant Commissioner, Commanding
Officer, "O" Division, RCMP; Graham Noseworthy, CBSA
Director General, Fort Erie and Niagara Region; Paul
Weaver, CBSA Director, Intelligence and Contraband
Section, Fort Erie Division.

U.S. Law Enforcement: Peter J. Ahearn, Special Agent In
Charge, Buffalo Division, FBI; Assistant Special Agent
Doug Riggins; Stuart Woodside, Assistant Chief Patrol
Agent, Buffalo Sector, U.S. Border Patrol; Peter J.
Smith, Special Agent in Charge, Office of
Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

U.S. Consulate General Toronto: Jessica LeCroy, Consul
General; A/Legatts Matthew Dunn and Michael Brogan;
Craig Healy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Attache; Regina Lombardo, ATF Attache; Mike Schimmel,
Acting Consular Chief and Deputy Consul General; Sherri
Holliday-Sklar, POL/ECON Chief; and Nick Giacobbe,
Public Affairs Officer.


16. (U) Biography of Canada's new Consul General in
Buffalo follows:

A career diplomat with a distinguished background in
international trade policy has been appointed Consul
General for Canada in Buffalo. Stephen Brereton, whose
past foreign assignments for Canada's Department of
Foreign Affairs include postings in Brussels, Tokyo and
Havana, took up his position in Buffalo effective
August 29, 2005. Brereton joined the Canadian Foreign
Service in 1979 following graduation from Queens
University with an Honours BA in Economics. A native
of Toronto, Mr. Brereton is joined in Buffalo by his
wife Carolyn and their two sons.

Mr. Brereton's appointment as Consul General follows
extensive periods of service at the departmental
headquarters in Ottawa where as Director of the
Investment Trade Policy Division from 1999-2005 he
negotiated Canada's rights and obligations under the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and World
Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements with respect to
investment, competition/antitrust policy, corporate
social responsibility, government procurement and
monopolies and state enterprises. Specific expertise
with regard to NAFTA's investment chapter led to
responsibility for policy oversight of investor-state
litigation cases. As Director of the Trade Controls
Policy Division at the Department of Foreign Affairs
and International Trade in the mid-90's, Brereton was
charged with the administration and enforcement of
trade quota regimes governing textiles and agricultural
products. In earlier positions at headquarters he
served as DepartmeQl Assistant to the Minister of
Industry and International Trade, Deputy Director of
the Tariffs and Market Access Division, Trade Policy
Officer within the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade) Division.

Mr. Brereton's foreign service career has included
assignments as the Trade Policy Counselor at the
Canadian Mission to the European Union based in
Brussels (1992-96) and diplomatic responsibilities the
Canadian Embassies in Tokyo Japan (1984-87) and Havana,
Cuba (1980-82) as well as the Foreign Service Institute
in Yokohama, Japan (1982-84).

LeCroy