US Starting to Work Collaboratively on the Border, Instead of Alone: Experts

(Anca Gurzu — Embassy)

Last week, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and United States Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced a plan to establish a first-ever cross-border approach to critical infrastructure. It would see the two nations sharing information and managing risks in an effort to better prepare and respond to natural disasters. The two countries also announced the possibility of sharing information to combat money-laundering and terrorist financing.

“Our mutual security extends beyond our borders and we must work together to mitigate threats before they reach either Canada or the US while facilitating the legitimate mobility of people and goods between us,” Mr. Toews said in a news release.

“The security of the United States and Canada is uniquely linked by proximity and a long history of close collaboration between our two governments,” followed Mrs. Napolitano.

But the history of close collaboration has not been that long, experts say. In the aftermath of 9/11, Canada has been mostly reacting to unilaterally-proposed security measures by the US, as opposed to truly working together, they say.

It is the language of this latest announcement and the last few months, however, that make experts optimistic about the move towards true collaboration. Read more here.

ACSA Seeks Five Cent Screening Fee

(Aircargo Asia)

The USA-based Air Cargo Security Alliance (ACSA), comprising 300 indirect air carriers, direct shippers and customs brokers, has petitioned Janet Napolitano, head of the US Department of Homeland Security, to implement a federal cargo screening program paid for by a US$0.05 cent per pound fee on all shipments.

According to Michael Whately of ACSA, the TSA's Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP) as it stands will "force most small to mid-size forwarders and indirect air carriers (IAC) to face insurmountable costs and logistical hurdles before they even enter the marketplace. This will result in reduced competition and just-in-time shipping options for businesses will be severely limited. For many, the 100% screening mandate without a federal screening program operating at all American airports makes economic viability impossible."

The trade association now wants the TSA to establish and operate federal cargo screening centres at major U.S. airports and pay for it through a uniform fee.

With the deadline for 100% screening 95 days away, ACSA says "only a fraction of the more than 4,000 registered IAC and shippers have joined the CCSP to date".

Criticism Prompts Napolitano to Halt Border Projects

(Phoenix Business Journal – Mike Sunnucks)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is putting a halt to border construction projects funded by the federal stimulus following questions about how money is being spent, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan criticized stimulus spending on ports of entry from Canada. He also questioned plans to spend $355 million to build new ports of entry at 22 locations along the Canadian border, saying some of those have minimal traffic and security challenges compared with sites along the Mexican border.

“On average, the ports see only five vehicles per hour and yet the proposed plan is to spend an average of $16 million per facility,” said Dorgan in a statement. “It just defies common sense.” Dorgan pointed to Antler, N.D., which he said sees two trucks and 36 passenger cars per day. The Antler location is slated to be demolished and rebuilt at a cost of $14 million. “I support efforts to boost security on our northern border, but we need to do it in a way that is fiscally responsible and follows some principles of common sense,” Dorgan said. “We can do some upgrades, but we don’t need to spend tens of millions of dollars to replace the existing facilities at ports of entry that see only a few vehicles every hour. That’s just nuts.” Read more here.

U.S. Security Czar Softens Stand on Border

(Adelle Loiselle — The Canadian Press)

Laws same, enforcement techniques will be different at Canadian, Mexican borders, U.S. official says

A senior U.S. official who earlier stoked concerns that Canada”s border would be treated no different than Mexico”s now says that while the law governing the crossings is the same, the techniques used to implement it will be different.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano”s words — made in Detroit late yesterday — come less than a week before new rules kick in that require a passport or other secure document to enter the U.S.

“We”re going to be using a different mix of manpower and technology between the ports of entry, for example, than we would at the southern border,” Napolitano said at a joint news conference with Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan.

“So, the law is the same but the techniques we use to implement that law will be differentiated because of the differences between Canada and Mexico.” Read more here.

Napolitano Clarifies Sept. 11 Remarks

(Bill Curry — Globe & Mail)

It’s the American myth that just won’t die, and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano distanced herself from it before Wednesday’s visit to Ottawa, reiterating that she does not believe the Sept. 11 attackers came from Canada.

“Now we know the 9/11 terrorists did not use the Canadian border,” she said Tuesday in Detroit, a month after she suggested in an interview that they did.

“However, we also know that just as our economy has become globalized, so has terrorism. And it erupts in many ways, in many different facets beyond the traditional al-Qaeda episodes that we have seen in the past and attacks we have seen in the past.”

Ms. Napolitano’s comments fall short of what opposition MPs want to hear from her Wednesday on Parliament Hill in her first Canadian visit as secretary: a clear statement to the U.S. audience that Canada is not a threat. Read more here.

Borderline Breakdown

(Macleans.ca)

Border security is still a very sore point in Canada-U.S. relations

The greatest test of whether the election of President Barack Obama will really repair the strains in Canada-U.S. relations gets under way this month when the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, comes to visit. The transformation of land border security over the last eight years came to symbolize the tense relations between Ottawa and the Bush administration. The almost 9,000 km of friendly frontier, and gateway to $1.6 billion in trade per day, turned into another front in the war on terror, patrolled by now-armed guards and unmanned drones, riddled with new regulations that business complains tie up trade, and as of June 1, a passport requirement for the first time. From the Canadian point of view, it was the work largely of an overzealous American administration and Congress taking a series of unilateral actions. “The previous attitude was that any additional step that could be taken should be taken without regard for trade,” Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan told Maclean’s. Like many Canadians, he hopes that will change under Obama. “Now we want to focus on security that is actually effective, and addresses real security threats—counterterrorism, the drug trade, organized crime, immigration issues—and we want to find ways to improve the flow of goods across the border.”

But from the U.S. point of view, the last eight years looked rather different. The world changed on 9/11, and Americans and Canadians reacted with what Paul Rosenzweig, a former senior Department of Homeland Security official who worked on border issues under George W. Bush, diplomatically refers to as “a different sense of urgency.” He suspects Ottawa and Washington will find it just as difficult to resolve their differences under Obama as they did under Bush. “One of the things I’ve learned is that there is this myth that Canadians and Americans are a lot alike in how they view things like trade and terrorism,” Rosenzweig said in an interview. “And they simply are not.” Where Canadians saw U.S. unilateralism, Americans saw Canadian complacency. On both sides, there was an erosion of trust. Can it be rebuilt? “My advice to Secretary Napolitano,” says Rosenzweig, “would be to explore how much of our inability to achieve common objectives with Canada was the product of political issues relating to the Bush administration—and how much of it was fundamental.”

Read more here.

Van Loan and Napolitano to Hold First Formal High-Level Border Meeting

(Public Safety Canada)

During their recent meeting in Washington, D.C., Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan and Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, agreed to establish a formal mechanism of twice yearly high-level meetings to manage issues on the shared border, a process that did not previously exist. The first of these meetings will take place May 26th in Detroit, Michigan and May 27th in Ottawa.

“I look forward to hosting Janet Napolitano on her first official visit to Canada as Secretary of Homeland Security, and renewing our practical problem-solving discussions following my recent trip to Washington,” said Minister Van Loan.

The regular High-Level Meeting mechanism is seen as a major positive step forward for Canada, strengthening the relationship with the U.S. and creating an opportunity for both countries to smooth trade and improve security at the border.

“As close neighbours, our security and trade interests are shared. The Prime Minister reminded us recently that threats to the national security of the United States also represent threats to Canada,” added Minister Van Loan. “The Secretary’s visit will allow us to advance initiatives and develop a mutual appreciation of the economic importance of smooth trade and the progress both countries have been making to improve security.”

DHS Secretary Napolitano, HHS Secretary Sebelius on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’

(CBS News Online)



Bob Schieffer spoke the CDC's Richard Besser, Health & Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius and Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano with about the likelihood of a swine flu pandemic.

Unnecessary Security on the US-Canada Border?

(Sandro Contenta — GlobalPost)

The US Homeland Security Secretary causes a ruckus up north.

Desidero Fortunato is a Canadian citizen who regularly visits his second home in Blaine, Wash., crossing the border by car two or three times a week.

Last month, a U.S. border guard — who apparently had no cause for suspicion — ordered him to shut off his engine and get out of the car.

The Canadian penchant for politeness can, admittedly, be irritating. But the 54-year-old competitive dancer got more than he bargained for when he asked the guard to say, “please.” First came a blast of pepper spray in the face. Then a handful of guards threw him to the ground, pinned him with their knees and slapped on handcuffs.

Fortunato says the tense interrogation that followed eased only when the guards learned he was born in Portugal. [...]

In the end, Canada has little choice but to acquiesce to the thickening border. Its economic future, thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement, relies on access to the American market. A loss of political sovereignty is the price of admission. Today it’s border security, tomorrow it will likely be changes to our immigration policies, which Napolitano has made clear are too lax. Read more here.