PARLIAMENTARIANS HIGHLIGHT BORDER CONCERNS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000684 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DHS FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS KCRM CA SUBJECT: PARLIAMENTARIANS HIGHLIGHT BORDER CONCERNS ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In advance of the annual Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary meeting May 17-18, Canadian MPs and Senators expressed concern to Ambassador over the "thickening of the border" and hope that Congress may again push back the June 2009 date for implementation of WHTI on the land border. They raised concerns over contraband tobacco, water exports, Devils Lake, uranium production, the DRIC project, and information-sharing in the wake of recent revelations in the Abdullah Khadr extradition case. End Summary ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador, accompanied by DCM, PolMinCouns, RSO, DHS Attache, and poloff, met on May 14 with thirteen Canadian Senators and Members of Parliament -- representing all four parties -- in advance of their travel as the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group (IPG) to Santa Fe for their annual meeting with U.S. Congresspersons and Senators. BORDER, WHTI, AND DRIC -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The border and implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative were the most prominent issues. IPG co-chair Senator Jerry Grafstein (Liberal, Ontario) expressed concern that the border is getting slower in both directions, and said that there are increasingly long lines at the Toronto Airport's pre-clearance facility. He stressed the need to focus more on planning for manpower and modernization of the border infrastructure. IPG co-chair MP Rob Merrifield (Conservative, Alberta) expressed concern that the infrastructure and personnel would not be in place for the final implementation of the land requirement for WHTI in June 2009, and suggested that it would be in both countries' interest to push it back yet again. He said that Canada wants the border to be "fluid" and, if recent experience is any indication, the final implementation will lead to long slowdowns and economic disruptions. ¶4. (SBU) Brian Masse (NDP, Ontario) raised the issue of drivers getting pulled over after going through the border, and noted that NEXUS lanes are not always open to full capacity. Jeff Watson (Conservative, Ontario) expressed concern with the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) project at Detroit-Windsor and the long-term issue with infrastructure there. He added that he would like to get help with Canadians who cannot travel to the U.S. because of previous criminal convictions, even though the crimes occurred as long as 3-4 decades ago. Every MP has a number of these cases, he said, and it would be helpful to implement a system whereby they could be cleared for travel purposes. Merrifield emphasized that, of the nine resolutions in the last IPG meeting, the most difficult was land pre-clearance, something the Canadian delegation would raise again this year. ¶5. (SBU) Ambassador pointed out that the U.S. is far ahead of Canada at present in making enhanced drivers licenses available for U.S. citizens, and that, while a lower percentage of Americans may have passports than Canadians, a larger percentage of Americans who need to cross the border have a passport. He noted that our staffing and infrastructure are adequate to meet the demand for passport issuance in the future. He and DCM suggested that the NEXUS Qissuance in the future. He and DCM suggested that the NEXUS program is underutilized at present and that both sides need to do more to push the program in order to make the NEXUS lanes more productive. DHS Attache added that there are a number of additional initiatives planned and underway, including more enrollment centers, that will make the program more productive, and noted that the Canadian Border Services Agency had not committed to staffing the new centers. DHS Attache also noted that U.S. immigration law does not have a "statue of limitations" on previous criminal convictions that render one admissible; in all cases, applicants must request a waiver. (Comment: Canada's immigration law is similar in that respect. End comment) She commented that increased identify verification at ports and the sharing of databases are likely the main reasons for increases in admissibilities (in both directions). ENERGY, CIGARETTE SMUGGLING, BULK WATER, AND URANIUM -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Canadian parliamentarians said a number of other issues would be on the table in Santa Fe. OTTAWA 00000684 002 OF 002 -- Shawn Murphy (Liberal, Prince Edward Island) asked about the Farm Bill and suggested that coordination of agricultural policy would be useful. -- Lloyd St. Amand (Liberal, Ontario) complained about contraband tobacco, which he said now makes up 60% of tobacco consumed in Canada, 90% of which is manufactured in the United States, most of it on New York State First Nations reservations. Bloc MP Paul Crete seconded this concern and asked if we could do more to stop the flow. -- Joe Commuzzi (Conservative, Ontario) said that for years Canada had been slow to "link" energy to any other issues but the PM had begun to do so, notably at the press conference in New Orleans with President Bush. He said parliamentarians will take the issue of energy to the IPG and promote the importance of the energy relationship to their American counterparts. -- Commuzzi also expressed concern over bulk water exports and asked if the current arrangement on Devils Lake is being followed and whether everything is in place to avoid the risk of "putting bad water into good." -- Brad Trost (Conservative, Saskatchewan) asked how U.S. policy was developing on the issue of allowing Canada to enrich uranium, a key issue for his riding. He was also focused on the energy issue and how to best cooperate on energy security. -- Senator Frank Mahlovich (Liberal, Ontario) raised the recent revelations that the U.S. had paid a "bounty" for the capture of Abdullah Khadr. He expressed concern that, since Canada depends on the U.S. for so much of its intelligence, this might harm information-sharing. -- Several MPs and Senators asked for our assessment of the "true state" of NAFTA in light of recent negative campaign rhetoric. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: The issues raised in this meeting are illustrative, not comprehensive, but are a useful snapshot of how some key Canadian MPs and Senators view the U.S. - Canada relationship. For all, relations with the U.S. are an important issue, and they clearly want to work to keep our relationship strong. But on WHTI, the clear message from this group was that they would still like to soften and delay U.S. implementation rather than speed up and stiffen Canadian compliance, and they expect a new American Congress might be willing to do so. Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada WILKINS