Common Agenda?

The Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the country's most powerful business lobby, unveiled its 43-page blueprint in Ottawa last week. Its central thesis: Canada should beef up its defences, accelerate the development of its oil and gas reserves and lower its regulatory barriers to secure its foothold in the lucrative American market.

"What Canada needs is a bold vision and a unified strategy that will ensure our continued economic competitiveness and growth at the same time as it enhances our physical security in a dangerous world," the group said.

Its members will take this message to senior officials in the U.S. administration and Congress on April 19 and 20. They will meet Andrew Card, President George Bush's chief of staff, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and General John Gordon, the president's homeland security adviser.

The business council's timing couldn't be better. Its members will arrive in the U.S. capital just 11 days before Prime Minister Paul Martin pays his first official visit to the White House.

The group's preparations couldn't be more meticulous. It will come armed with a sheaf of glowing testimonials. Jeffrey Schott, senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington, calls its proposal "a concise and compelling call to action." Allan Gotlieb, Canada's former ambassador to the U.S., describes it as "a forward-looking document of exceptional clarity." Robert Pastor, director of the Centre for North American Studies at American University, says it "combines a breathtaking continental vision and eminently practical steps."

One thing is missing: input from the Canadian public.

Tom d'Aquino, president and chief executive of the council, insists that New Frontiers: Building A 21st Century Canada-United States Partnership In North America is merely a discussion paper. "Our goal in the months ahead is to help foster a powerful consensus that it is in the interest of both countries to move forward urgently in developing and implementing an ambitious yet practical agenda," he says.

But Washington seems like an odd place to begin the debate. Meeting American policy-makers seems like an odd way to build support in Canada. And calling for urgent action seems like an odd tactic. Both Bush and Martin are in the final months of their mandate. This is the wrong time for major policy decisions.

All of this suggests that Canadians would do well to pay attention.

Those who read the business council's paper (which is available at http://www.ceocouncil.ca) will find that it contains a number of sensible recommendations, a few that cannot be taken seriously and a handful that are highly contentious.

Let's start with the easy ones. Most citizens would agree that border delays should be reduced, minor differences in Canadian and American tariffs and product regulations should be eliminated, Ottawa and the provinces should stop working at cross-purposes in the U.S. market, and Canada's foreign and defence policies should be updated.

Then there are the proposals that have no realistic chance of being accepted. The Americans aren't going to sign a "resource security pact" that provides Canadian lumber producers with unhampered access to their market in return for a reliable supply of energy. Nor are they going to negotiate a common set of subsidy and dumping rules. They've refused to come to the table for 15 years.

Finally, there are five flashpoints in the plan that deserve a thorough public airing. These include:

• Canadian participation in the ballistic missile defence plan proposed by Washington.
• The expansion of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) to include land and sea forces.
• The creation of a biometric identification card that could be used in either country.
• The rapid development of the Alberta oil sands, the Mackenzie Delta petroleum and gas deposits and the Arctic coast natural gas reserves to "reinforce Canada's role as a secure supplier of energy to North America."
• The harmonization of environmental standards in the two countries.

No one disputes that Canada's $645 billion trading relationship with the U.S. is of vital importance. But so is the nation's ability to protect its values, husband its resources, maintain its sovereignty and safeguard its natural heritage.

It is up to Canadians and their elected representatives to rank and reconcile these priorities.

Big Business has put forward some interesting ? but self-interested ? proposals. Other voices need to be heard.

Original article: Odd Way to Build a Consensus

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