U.S. plans border exemption for Canada

By SHAWN McCARTHY From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Ottawa — Canadian citizens are expected to gain a long-sought exemption from new U.S. entry and exit controls that threaten to disrupt border traffic, U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci said yesterday.

In an interview at the embassy on Sussex Drive, Mr. Cellucci sought to allay fear that recent tensions over Iraq will have an adverse impact on economic or business relations between Canada and the U.S.

The outspoken ambassador, who raised Canadian hackles recently when he talked about the U.S. being "upset" at Ottawa's refusal to join the war, said the two governments continue to work normally on a number of fronts, from energy to trade to border security.

Mr. Cellucci said the Bush administration is planning to exempt U.S. and Canadian citizens from a law that will require a system to track all entries to and exits from the United States by 2005.

The Chrétien government has lobbied hard for such an exemption, saying it is needed to keep people and commerce flowing freely across the border.

"We still have some more legal work to do, but it looks like U.S. and Canadian citizens would not be subject to the entry-exit," Mr. Cellucci said, adding that non-citizens who are permanent residents of the two countries would be affected.

He said the administration is taking the view that the law requires registration only of people who require secure documents to cross the border — and that does not include American or Canadian citizens.

Applied across the board, the new system could cause huge backlogs at busy U.S-Canada border points, hampering trade and tourism. Under the system, ordered by Congress after the terrorist attacks of Sept, 11, 2001, the aim was to have the United States register every person entering and leaving the country.

The Chrétien government is considering a plan that would have Canada Customs officials collect exit information on non-citizens and pass it to U.S. authorities.

Mr. Cellucci said the work on the border is just one area where Canada-U.S. relations are proceeding normally, despite the recent strain over this country's decision not to support the war in Iraq.

In fact, he said he was forwarding an invitation to Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal to meet with U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham later this spring.

In his complaints about Canada's stand on Iraq two weeks ago, Mr. Cellucci singled out Mr. Dhaliwal after the minister criticized George W. Bush as lacking statesmanship.

He said the Canadian decision has kept Ottawa on the sidelines in the initial planning for reconstruction in that country.

The U.S. President cancelled a state visit to Ottawa on May 5; his officials said he needed to concentrate on reconstruction in Iraq. A day after announcing the cancellation, the White House said that Australian Prime Minister John Howard would visit Mr. Bush's Texas ranch May 2 and 3 to discuss reconstruction and global security.

"Australia was an ally," Mr. Cellucci said. "That doesn't mean we don't want to bring Canada and other countries in because we do, but in the first instance, the coalition partners have the responsibility to get this [reconstruction] off the ground."

He said Mr. Bush still intends to visit Canada later this year, but added that no date has been set. He confirmed that the Prime Minister's Office had offered "a couple of dates" but that they were not acceptable.

The ambassador said such a meeting would be useful even though Mr. Chrétien will be only a few months from retirement.

One scenario being discussed — Mr. Cellucci would not comment on it — is to schedule the meeting after the November Liberal leadership convention, to give Mr. Bush an opportunity to meet with both Mr. Chrétien and his successor.

Despite his earlier warnings about "short-term consequences," the ambassador rejected suggestions by some businesspeople, provincial premiers and opposition MPs that tension over Iraq would cause an economic backlash.

"I think on a lot of the issues we're working on — defence, energy, secure borders, even softwood lumber — I don't think it has had any impact," he said.

He said he didn't expect any backlash from American consumers or business people over the decision or over anti-Bush comments by Liberal politicians.

"There's some awareness, but it's not like how people are feeling about France and Germany. I don't think it's going to have much effect at all on trade or tourism or anything like that."

Mr. Cellucci said the U.S. is particularly eager to work with Canada — and with Mexico — on securing a North American market for electricity, natural gas and oil.

"We require the reliable transmission of energy in North America so we're not dependent on Venezuela — that switched off the spigot a couple months ago — and the Middle East."