Archive for May, 2009

If you travel to the United States at all, I hope you’ve been paying attention to the radio and newspaper ads telling you to get a passport to travel south of the border. While this has been a requirement for air travel, it now extends to crossing the border by car as well.

The need for a passport to travel to the U.S. is not a Canadian government requirement. It is an American rule, a result of 9-11.  This passport requirement was actually supposed to be implemented a couple of years back. But lobbying by Canadian MPs convinced the U.S. Congress to delay the new restriction.

While I’m hopeful that these new rules won’t hurt trade between Canada and the U.S., I am saddened by the ‘thickening” of the border between our two countries.  While business has slowly been finding ways to work with border regulations, ordinary travel is sure to be affected. Americans who want to come up to Canada for a weekend will pass on the opportunity and our two nations could grow farther apart.

Canada and the U.S. have fought together in six wars in the last 100 years; many families have ties on both sides of the border. It is not a good thing that our American cousins have retreated behind a wall, afraid of the world. As a Member of Parliament, I will continue to work to keep Canadian travel and trade free. I will keep explaining to my American colleagues why the United States needs to be open to Canada.

I’m Brad Trost your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt.  You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.

I don’t know how much attention you have paid to a series of stories that have been in the national press about Canada-U.S. relations.  Probably the most important story was when the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano repeated the myth that the 9/11 terrorists had entered the United States from Canada. The Secretary wasn’t being malicious; she was just uninformed.

As a Vice-Chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, one of my duties is to work with American congressman and senators and to inform them about Canada. I try to make sure that my American counterparts realize that their actions impact the Canada-U.S. relationship– even when their focus is on other countries. (American border policies aimed at Mexico illustrate this point.)

So how do we deal with the Americans?

First, we always keep them informed. Most American politicians tend to focus on their own domestic issues. Therefore, it is important to get their attention as often as possible.

Second, we don’t threaten retaliation if Americans don’t do what we want.  While it may make people feel good to talk tough, Canada’s economy is heavily reliant on exports, especially to the U.S.  Whatever we do to retaliate against the U.S. will almost always hurt us more than it will hurt them.

Third, we work with Americans who support Canada’s position.  All politics is local. For every business south of the border that wants to keep Canadian competition out, there is another business that wants to import Canadian goods.  Americans who support Canada also vote in U.S. elections–and American politicians want their votes too.

Canada-U.S. trade is very important to our economy. That’s why it is important that we be smart about this special relationship.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt.  You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.