© by Jim Bronskill and Mike Blanchfield
WASHINGTON -- An American think-tank is calling on Canada, the
United States and Mexico to combine customs, immigration and security
functions to the point at which borders become almost irrelevant.
A study released yesterday by the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace urges the three countries to explore whether a North
American "integration project" is worth pursuing and to develop a
strategic plan for rethinking border relationships.
A decision to proceed would trigger bilateral negotiations with the
aim of agreeing on the border relationship each pair of neighbouring
countries wishes to see in 10 or 15 years.
"For the U.S.-Canada border, this means ever closer and organic
co-operation, an ever more explicit focus on understanding and
addressing differences and ever greater experimentation," says the
study, prepared by the endowment's International Migration Policy
Program.
"It is in fact our contention that, substantively at least, the
U.S.-Canada border is likely to disappear before any politician finds
the political courage to negotiate its removal."
The study's authors, Demetrios Papademetriou and Deborah Waller
Meyers, spent two years researching the issues, paying special attention
to life in border communities. The study acknowledges the sensitivities around fostering closer ties between sovereign countries and insists the proposals would not
lead to the creation of a new political entity, nor a continental
capital akin to Brussels in the European Community. It also stresses that stronger border co-operation would not unduly affect areas the partners consider "nearly sacred" -- such as issues of identity and, in Canada's case, a tradition of government-sponsored social programs.
Canadian and U.S. leaders see more effective border management as a
pressing issue, insisted Martha Nixon, a senior Immigration Department
official who attended a Washington conference yesterday to discuss the
report's findings.
"They have asked us to make this a much more strategically focused
piece of business, so I think it's clear this is a priority."
The authors say continental integration is based on a vision that
imagines the NAFTA borders gradually "becoming irrelevant to the point
where their abolition could proceed without any real compromise" in any
of the priorities of each partner.
Meyers said the rapid growth in commerce between the countries
demands a forward-looking approach to ensure border systems can handle
the flow of goods and people.
"Maybe things aren't collapsing yet, but they will if we don't do
anything," she said in an interview.
Among the authors' ideas:
-One partner conduct all inspections and tariff collections
on behalf of the other two countries when cargo enters NAFTA space,
eliminating the need to repeat procedures at each border. A similar
system could be implemented by immigration services to deal with people
crossing borders.
-Canada and the United States, initially, agree to a common
visa regime for the widest band of countries possible.
-Canada and the United States gradually liberalize the
movement of each other's citizens, building on the treatment each now
offers one another's professionals under the NAFTA agreement
.
The authors believe the proposals could enhance protection against
illegal activities such as terrorism and drug-smuggling, improve
economic prosperity and insulate each country from "political ups and
downs" that affect vital interests. For instance, some U.S. politicians
have been pushing for stricter border controls that would, in turn, hurt
businesses.
The study says U.S. interest in the integration project is "likely to
be tepid" unless the proposals can help Washington accomplish its own
goals less expensively, more efficiently and much more effectively.
Nixon, an assistant deputy minister with Canada's Immigration
Department, does not believe the sort of changes outlined in the report
would water down sovereignty or lead to erasure of the border.
"I think we can do a whole lot without sacrificing or challenging
our identity at all." She pointed to a pilot project that will allow people crossing the
Bluewater Bridge at the Canada-U.S. border near Sarnia, Ont., to fill
out forms at just one stop instead of two. "Why do we have two places to go to?" she asked. "Why don't we have one pass between two countries?"
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