A Safe and Smart Border

Please join the Canada Institute for the launch of its 15th One Issue, Two Voices publication exploring the recent attempts to make the Canada-U.S. border safer and more efficient. American author Christopher Sands, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Canadian author Laura Dawson, President of Dawson Strategic, will discuss the findings of their respective essays and offer analysis on the progress of negotiations on both Beyond the Border and the Regulatory Cooperation Council. Sands presents his view that America is uninterested in keeping its "special relationship" with Canada, if one even existed. Rather, the United States sees Canada as only one piece in the puzzle of global international trade. Any advancements made in the Canada-U.S. relationship are made with an eye towards other parts of the world. Canada would be served by identifying specific policies it wants to see changed, rather than trying to change the dynamics of the relationship. Dawson observes that Canada's nostalgic view of the "special relationship" often comes to its detriment during these negotiations. Instead, Canada must adopt a more pragmatic and nimble approach to negotiations, to find the items of common interest, and act on them to improve both security and trade efficiency. In addition to being smarter about its approach to negotiations with Americans, Canadians would be wise to better manage expectations for those negotiations at home. Often, Canadian leaders oversell and under deliver on promises of increased border cooperation, leading to exaggerated complications in an already complex relationship. Joining the two authors will be a distinguished panel of stakeholders from both the RCC and Beyond the Border process. The stakeholders will discuss the progress the initiatives have made in thinning our border and better aligning the regulatory regimes of Canada and the United States.