Hearing that yet another Canada-U.S. security pact is in the works, Canadians could be forgiven for thinking, irritably, that satisfying American security needs has become a never-ending giveaway on their part.




Canadians have already spent billions of dollars harmonizing their policies on domestic security, travel and immigration and refugee regulations with U.S. policies. The cost of lost trade is mounting into the stratosphere. Post 9/11 Canada's exports, excluding forestry and energy, are more than 12 per cent below what they might have been had the U.S. not tightened up its borders. This is according to a study last year by Ottawa economist Patrick Grady. Grady also calculated that Canada's services exports are off by eight per cent, or $3.1 billion.
The shot in the arm NAFTA gave to Canadian exporters has been "substantially eroded," Grady warned in his paper, an erosion that could prove permanent.
Business issues, as important as they are, are only one side of the equation. On the other are questions of Canadian sovereignty, including the freedom for Canada to set its own policies, and the privacy of its citizens. From what is known, the proposed new security pact, called Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Competitiveness, calls for integration on a scale that could prove a step too far.
The still-secret document is said to call for the development of joint facilities and programs and closer co-operation among police, security and military on both sides of the border. A protected perimeter is to include joint screening of people as well as cargo entering anywhere in Canada and the U.S. and by any means. Cyberspace and telecommunications will also be subject to joint monitoring.
Canadians have little reason to think the U.S. will be anything less than its by-now usual paranoid self when it comes to vetting people and goods at its borders. The recent case of Pakistani-born Canadian pilot Javed Latif provides no comfort to Canadians worried that the U.S. could ride roughshod over citizens' legal and even human rights.
Latif, at one point cleared to fly former U.S. president George H.W. Bush, was branded a security risk in 2003 by the Homeland Security Department. No reasons were given or proof provided. In an equally opaque move, Latif 's clearance was restored two years ago.
This proposed pact might well protect trade while respecting Canadians' freedoms and privacy, but the Harper government needs to make that case to Canadians. Parliament should have the opportunity to examine the deal. This is an important point in Canada-U.S. relations. Secrecy will only feed paranoia on this side of the border.