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| Harper, Obama to discuss trade, security | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 4 2011, 11:32 AM (267 Views) | |
| shure | Feb 4 2011, 11:32 AM Post #1 |
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Harper, Obama to discuss trade, security Last Updated: Friday, February 4, 2011 | 11:15 AM ET http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2011/02/04/harper-obama.html ![]() Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama are expected to sign a framework agreement on border security. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press) Prime Minister Stephen Harper is en route to Washington for a day of bilateral meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama. Harper left Ottawa Friday morning for Washington D.C., where he and Obama are expected to sign a framework agreement on border security. It is also believed they will announce their goal to get a deal before the end of the year. They are also expected to kick off negotiations to ease trade restrictions between the two countries and ensure security from terrorist attacks. After an hour of bilateral meetings, they are scheduled to hold a joint news conference shortly after 3 p.m. ET. Canadian officials have long been concerned that enhanced security in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States would hinder the flow of daily trade between the two countries along the border. The issue has raised concerns over sovereignty and privacy, and how much information Canada is willing to share with the U.S. "They want as much as we can give them, and we're not going to give them as much as they want," Colin Robertson, the former Canadian diplomat who has been consulting with the Harper government on the issue, told The Canadian Press. "Homeland Security wanted access to all migration records and a whole bunch of other stuff. We said no," Robertson said. Security perimeter But Robertson said the issue has been resolved sufficiently enough to move forward. "It is reasonable to talk about a North American security perimeter," said Peter Showler, who teaches immigration and refugee law at the University of Ottawa. "The real issue is what does that mean and to what degree is it required that Canada mesh its security provisions and security regime with that of the United States." Showler contends that Canadians have a clear sense of how far they will go in merging their own laws and policies with U.S. interests because human rights standards in Canada are different. But he doubts any major integration of laws concerning immigrants and refugees would succeed. Ken Roach, a University of Toronto law professor, said harmonizing immigration and security policies will be one of the main challenges faced in Friday's meeting. "Yes, we should share information with the Americans as well as other allies, but there has to be proper review structures to ensure that the information is shared properly," Roach said. |
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7:52 PM Jul 10