Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama shake hands at a joint news conference in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building after their meeting at the White House Friday.
OTTAWA, Canada - new Canada-U.S. agreement on border security won't jeopardize Canadian sovereignty, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday.At the end of meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama, Harper said Canada's sovereignty isn't in question. "Our objective here is to make sure Canadians are safer and more secure."His comments came after he and Obama signed a deal that will lead to the two countries co-operating on ways to use technology to design a smarter border that remains open to trade and economic growth, but closed to security risks.
- In announcing a joint declaration on the border, Obama said he and Harper "agreed to a new vision for managing our shared responsibilities, not just at the border but beyond the border."
- President Obama pointed to three initiatives:
- * Better border security using better screening, new technologies, and information sharing among law-enforcement agencies. That also means ensuring a free flow of goods and people, keeping in mind the president's goal of doubling U.S. exports.
- * Creation of a new council to sweep away outdated regulations that stifle trade and job creation.
- * Unspecified ways "to promote trade and investment from clean energy partnerships [and] the steps Canada can take to strengthen intellectual property rights."
- Harper touched on sovereignty several times at the post-meeting press conference. "We are not talking about eliminating the border," he said, "but rather simplifying wherever possible the management of the border as well as the free flow of people and goods across that border."
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n Ottawa, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff decried the lack of specifics. "Canadians want to travel freely across the border," he said, "but the question is, how much information about ourselves are we being asked to surrender to American authorities? No one can tell us. This is why the secrecy of this deal is troubling."
n Ottawa, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff decried the lack of specifics. "Canadians want to travel freely across the border," he said, "but the question is, how much information about ourselves are we being asked to surrender to American authorities? No one can tell us. This is why the secrecy of this deal is troubling."Canadian officials have long been concerned that enhanced security after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States would hinder the flow of daily trade between the two countries along the border.
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Since the release of the U.S. government watchdog's report, opposition MPs have accused the government of not doing enough to stand up to the U.S.- "Every deal this prime minister has made has led to a thicker border, not a thinner one," NDP MP Brian Masse said. "American politicians continue to slag Canadians as terrorists and they go uncontested every single day."
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