AGENDA PACKAGE U.S. CANADA MAYORS SUMMIT ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE

Transcription

1 U.S. CANADA MAYORS SUMMIT ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE Cleary International Centre 201 Riverside Dr. West, Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Adjacent to Hilton and Radisson Hotels)

2 WELCOME FROM THE MAYOR OF WINDSOR July 20, 2006 Dear Summit Participants, Thank you for participating in the U.S. Canada Mayors Summit on the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. On behalf of my co-hosts, Kwame Kilpatrick, the Mayor of Detroit, and David Miller, the Mayor of Toronto, I welcome you to Windsor for this important event. Over 60 Mayors and representatives from both sides of our border as well as federal, state and provincial officials and business leaders are in attendance. As you know, a recent U.S. government proposal, known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), to require all Canadian and U.S. citizens to show a passport or other secure document to enter the United States by January 1, 2008, will have major economic and social impacts on countless US and Canadian communities. Resolutions on WHTI were adopted at the recent annual meetings of both the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the US Conference of Mayors. This Summit will give municipal leaders from both sides of the border a chance to raise further awareness of WHTI, propose solutions that will enhance security and facilitate travel and trade between our nations, and speak directly to federal government officials. Together, we can add our collective municipal voice to this important debate. Changes are needed along the Canada-United States border to improve security and increase efficiency. This is not in question. The issue is how to do this. The post 9/11 security environment provides the catalyst for real change. We need to take the time to get it right. I look forward to our discussions. Sincerely, Mayor Eddie Francis City of Windsor

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Meeting Agenda... Tab 1 Issue Briefing and Background Material Annex 1 Federation of Canadian Municipalities (Issue Briefings)..Tab 2 Annex 2 U.S Conference of Mayors Adopted Policies Tab 3 Annex 3 Meet Me at the Border...Tab 4 Annex 4 Resolutions..Tab 5 Annex 5 Potential Questions Tab 6 Annex 6 WHTI Internet Resources..Tab 7 Letters Tab 8 Presenters Power Point Presentation.Tab 9 List of Attendees... Tab 10 Speakers, Government and Agency Official Biographies

4 Thursday, July 20, 2006 (All sessions on July 20 will be held in Canadian Club Room B, Cleary International Centre). 1. (8:00AM 9:40) Summit Registration (Continental Breakfast will be provided.) 2. (9:40 10:00) Welcome and introductions 3. (10:00 10:25) Opening Remarks by co-hosts (Open to media, no questions) Windsor, Mayor Eddie Francis Detroit, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Toronto, Mayor David Miller Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), President Gloria Kovach Hon. Dwight Duncan, Minister of Energy, Chair of Cabinet Province of Ontario, M.P.P. Windsor-St. Clair (10:25 10:30) BREAK (to allow media to clear the room) 4. (10:30 11:00) Presentation by John Zogby, US-Canada travel survey 5. (11:00 11:45) Business Sector Roundtable Business for Economic Security and Trade (BESTT) Lisa Katz Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce Linda Smith Windsor & District Chamber of Commerce Binational Tourism Alliance - Arlene White Question Period (11:45 12:30) LUNCH (Canadian Club Room A) 6. (12:30 1:30) Discussion with Federal, State and Provincial Officials (Municipal, provincial/state and federal officials and staff only) Round Table Discussion Panel opening comments two-way dialogue Frank Moss, Deputy Assistant US Secretary of State, Passport Services Greg Goatbe, Vice-President, Admissibility Branch, Canada Border Services Agency Hon. Dwight Duncan, Minister of Energy M.P.P. Windsor-St. Clair, Chair of Cabinet Province of Ontario Richard Corson, Director, Pontiac U.S. Export Assistance, U.S. Dept. of Commerce 7. (1:30 1:45) Preparation for media availability, and adjournment (Municipal, provincial/state and federal officials and staff only) 8. (1:45 onward) Media availability (Canadian Club Room B)

5 ISSUE BRIEFING Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative This memorandum provides background information on the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) to participants at the July 20, 2006 US-Canada Mayors Summit on WHTI. Background In September 2005, the US Department of Homeland Security released details on the proposed Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. WHTI will require all citizens of the United States, Canada, Bermuda and Mexico to have a passport or other secure document proving identity and citizenship, to enter or re-enter the United States, by January 1, These new requirements will particularly discourage spontaneous, discretionary travellers, youth groups and families, with potentially harmful effects on Canada-U.S. trade and tourism, as well as on the thousands of tightly knit cross-border communities from coast to coast. Several communities, notably Buffalo-Niagara, Detroit-Windsor and northwest Washington-Lower Mainland BC, and many municipalities in southern Quebec, New Brunswick and New England, New York and Michigan are true cross-border communities, where residents work, shop, attends school or church, and visit family and friends on both sides of the border. Major gateway cities, tourism and convention centres and communities along the north-south trade corridors will also be affected by tightened border rules. Response by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has been the voice of Canadian municipalities since FCM represents more than 1200 Canadian municipalities with over 80 per cent of the country s population. FCM s membership includes key border communities, such as Windsor, Sarnia and Niagara Region in Ontario, and Surrey and Victoria in British Columbia, and large gateway tourism and commercial centres such Halifax, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver. Guided by the first of many recommendations from FCM s Board in September 2005, staff pursued a multi-pronged strategy to build momentum around this issue: In October, we delivered a formal submission with a number of recommendations to strengthen border security, to the Department of Homeland Security on WHTI. A press conference to publicly release this submission, with FCM Vice-President Gord Steeves, Mayor Francis of Windsor and Mayor Salci of Niagara Falls, resulted in a significant media hit A summary of the submission is attached as Annex 1. In November, FCM began working with a loose coalition of bi-national travel, tourism and export industry representatives, as well as Canadian Embassy officials, working together to combat WHTI. This group has since formalized into the BESTT Coalition ( and now also includes several US municipalities, and continues to grow. Throughout the process, FCM has worked closely with officials at the Canadian Embassy in Washington. In December, the FCM Board passed a new motion directing staff to continue efforts to engage our counterpart US organizations and our membership.

6 In January 2006, the FCM President travelled to Washington to present our concerns about WHTI to the US Conference of Mayors (USCM) at their Annual Congressional Meeting. There, we urged and supported the USCM and the National League of Cities to engage on this issue during face to face meetings with their respective Presidents, as well as to USCM s Border and Cities Task Force (co-chaired by Mayor Kilpatrick). We continue to work with our US counterparts on the issue at a staff level. In February, FCM wrote to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Public Safety, briefing them on the concerns, interests and efforts on the part of Canadian municipalities to fight WHTI, and offered our support to work with the Government of Canada on the issue. In April, May and June, FCM worked with the USCM, the City of Toronto, the City of Surrey, BC and the Canadian Consulate in LA to support resolutions on WHTI at the USCM Annual Conference and the meeting of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Mayors Conference (see Annex 2). In June, a resolution on WHTI was passed at FCM s Annual Conference in Montreal (see Annex 3). In July, an editorial by the FCM President about municipal concerns with WHTI will be distributed to US and Canadian print media, in advance of the July 20 Mayors Summit in Windsor. Current Status Public and government interest and concern about WHTI has grown significantly in the past four months. The issue has been discussed in face-to-face meetings between the Prime Minister and President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State. At the provincial/state level, governors and premiers caucuses in both the Pacific region and the Atlantic/New England region have formally and publicly come out against WHTI, adopting positions very similar to FCM s. In June, in response to glowing public concern over the potential impacts of WHTI, and testimony from US officials on implementation challenges, the US Senate added an amendment to an immigration bill to extend the WHTI implementation deadline from January 1, 2008 to June 1, However, the US legislative process still has a long way to go, and it is far from guaranteed that this amendment will survive. Additional Information As added background, please find a set of potential media questions, with suggested responses, in Annex 5. Annex 6 contains links to a number of useful web sites.

7 ANNEX 1 WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has been the voice of Canadian municipalities since FCM represents more than 1200 Canadian municipalities with over 80 per cent of the country s population. FCM s membership includes key border communities, such as Windsor, Sarnia and Niagara Region in Ontario, and Surrey and Victoria in British Columbia, and large gateway tourism and commercial centres such Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver. Background In October 2005, FCM made a submission to the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in response to the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the proposed Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). WHTI will require all citizens of the United States, Canada, Bermuda and Mexico to have a passport or other secure document proving identity and citizenship, to enter or re-enter the United States by January 1, KEY BORDER FACTS & FIGURES Our common concerns Canadian municipalities recognize and share the security concerns of the United States that WHTI is attempting to address. Canadian municipalities, provinces and the federal government are already working with the United States through the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) to build a more secure and efficient border. The Canada-United States border relationship is unique in North America and the world. This border facilitates the largest trading relationship (more than C$1.2 billion a day) in the world; the movement of 300,000 people per day; and tightly intertwined social and family relationships that stretch back generations. Our common border has always been a special case requiring special approaches. Our mutual prosperity depends on getting this border relationship right. Current border challenges Two-way trade across the Canada- U.S. border is valued at CDN$1.2 billion per day. More than 5.2 million U.S. jobs rely on trade with Canada. A truck crosses the Canada-U.S.- border every 2.5 seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Only 23% of U.S. citizens hold a valid passport; 40% of Canadian citizens hold a passport. More than 3,500 Canadian nurses staff Detroit hospitals. WHTI will result in an estimated CDN$750 million decline in tourism receipts in U.S. communities from 2005 to Clearly, the status quo at the border is unacceptable. Border officials must assess the validity of hundreds of different types of identity and citizenship documents, from birth certificates to baptismal cards to drivers licenses and border identity cards, issued by as many as 1,800 jurisdictions, from states and provinces to counties and parishes. This situation is untenable for border security and contributes to uncertainty and delay for travellers. Solutions are needed that provide secure proof of identity and citizenship and smooth the flow of legitimate goods and travellers through border inspection stations at airports, land crossings and ports.

8 ( continued from previous page) Passports alone are not the solution WHTI attempts to address these problems, but Canadian municipalities have serious questions about whether WHTI, as proposed, will in fact improve security and at what cost. These concerns and questions are shared by many U.S. communities along the border and throughout the country. One concern is that passport foundation documents birth certificates in particular are not secure. This compromises any solution that would rely on passports or passport-based documents to prove identify and citizenship. In addition, with only 23 per cent of U.S. citizens currently holding passports, the significant additional costs to Canadian-bound U.S. visitors of obtaining a passport ($97 per person), as well as the time required (six weeks or more) represent substantial barriers to spontaneous travel, particularly for youth groups and families. Any new security initiatives must be balanced against the effect on efficient trade and the expedited travel of those people and goods that are a low risk to national security. Finally, with the WHTI deadline only 18 months away, there is little time available for either the necessary public education or the required enhancements to border technology and infrastructure. FCM S RECOMMENDATIONS New documents, new technology, new infrastructure, new procedures and improved training, integrated as a comprehensive strategy to create a smart border solution, will significantly enhance security, while at the same time facilitating the efficient movement of goods and people across the border. New document requirements alone, as proposed by WHTI, will not. Changes are needed along Canada-United States border to improve security and increase efficiency. This is not in question. The issue is how to do this. The post 9/11 security environment provides the catalyst for real change. We need to take the time to get it right. Our specific recommendations are: 1. Undertake several bilateral pilot projects to develop comprehensive solutions to border security. These should include testing new, enhanced-security, multi-purpose documents (see recommendation 3) that work best in our shared border context. These field trials at select crossings should begin by January 1, 2008, to meet WHTI requirements but will allow time for testing and the opportunity to get it right. 2. Ensure that existing trusted traveller programs, such as US-VISIT NEXUS and FAST, are expanded and made universally available at and transferable to all border crossings and that construction of the supporting technology and infrastructure, such as special lanes and RFID, is expedited. 3. Seek synergies between WHTI and the U.S. REAL ID Act to provide alternative, acceptable travel documents. The REAL ID Act requires U.S. states to standardize and secure their driver licensing documents by These enhanced documents might fulfill WHTI requirements at a reasonable cost in time and money to U.S. travellers. The key characteristics of an acceptable alternative document are: secure (including biometrics), proof of identity and citizenship, convenient format (wallet-sized), reasonably affordable and easily obtainable. 4. Exempt travellers under the age of 16 from new documentation requirements. School and church groups, as well as amateur sports teams, will be seriously affected by regulations requiring passports or passport-based documents, since most children and youth do not hold passports and could not justify the costs of obtaining one for one tournament or school trip. Flexibility and discretion will be required to deal appropriately with these low-risk travellers.

9 ANNEX 2 Policy Priorities Adopted by the Members of the United States Conference of Mayors, 74 th Annual Conference, June 2006, Las Vegas, NV FACILITATING CROSS-BORDER TRAVEL WITHIN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE WHEREAS, international travel to the United States generates approximately $100 billion in visitor spending and directly and indirectly employs 17 million Americans; and WHEREAS, cross-border travel and trade with Canada and Mexico and other nations within the Western Hemisphere is critical to our nation s economy and relations with key trade partners; and WHEREAS, securing our nation s land, air and sea ports-of-entry is absolutely critical; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges Congress and the Bush Administration to extend the deadline for implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), and to seek bilateral, low-cost solutions that enhance U.S. border security while ensuring the free-flow of travelers and trade across our borders with our neighbors in the Western Hemisphere.

10 RESOLUTION M-1-06 WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE WHEREAS Section 7209 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of December 17, 2004 calls on the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to develop and implement a plan to require a passport or other document or combination of documents deemed to be sufficient to denote identity and citizenship for all travel into the United States by U.S. citizens and categories of individuals for whom documentation requirements have previously been waived; and WHEREAS, securing land, air and sea ports-of- entry is absolutely critical; WHEREAS Canada and the United States have unique relationship characterized by the world s longest undefended border; WHEREAS more than 300,000 people from both countries cross the border every day to work, shop, and visit family and friends; WHEREAS cross-border communities of Buffalo-Niagara and Detroit-Windsor are tightly knit both socially and economically and residents shop, attend school or church, and events on both sides of the border; WHEREAS only 23% of U.S. citizens and 40 % of Canadians hold passports; WHEREAS the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) will require all Canadian and US citizens to have a passport to enter the US by 2008; WHEREAS research has demonstrated that a passport requirement is likely to reduce travel demand between Canada and United States to the detriment of both countries tourist industries and economies; and WHEREAS there is little evidence that the availability of a new form of identification such as the proposed PASS card will have substantially smaller result in curtailing travel demand than a passport requirement; and WHEREAS the Department of Homeland Security has advised that there probably is insufficient time to complete the development and pilot testing of alternative secure identification options

11 based on the enhancing existing forms of identification within the proposed timeframe for implementing the new documentation requirements of December 31, 2006 for individuals traveling by air and sea and December 31, 2007 for individuals traveling by land; and WHEREAS evidence suggests that the public in both Canada and the U.S. is confused about the timing of the proposed implementation of the new regulations, many believing that they already require a passport to enter or re-enter the U.S.; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative advise the Governments of Canada and the US that it is deeply concerned about the risk to the economic health of communities in both the U.S. and Canada associated with the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative request that the Government of Canada formally request the Government of the US to delay the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative request the Government of the United States to delay implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and that the US work with Canada to develop solutions that provide for a secure border while facilitating trade and travel; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative be encouraged to attend the Mayor s Summit in Windsor on July 20, 2006 to address the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

12 ANNEX 4 FIN WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) advise its members, the Government of Canada and other concerned stakeholders that it continues to be deeply concerned about the risk to the economic health of communities in both the United States and Canada associated with the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in the absence of alternative documents to the passport that are secure (including biometrics), provide proof of identity and citizenship, is in a convenient format (wallet-sized), and is inexpensive and easily obtainable by Canadian and American citizens traveling by air and sea as well as land. Preferred solutions are based on enhancing the security and citizenship information on current widely-carried forms of identification such as the drivers license; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that FCM advise these parties that it fully supports recommendations to extend the deadline for implementing WHTI for all forms of travel until such alternatives are available, and if such an extension is deemed impossible, that every effort be made to implement bi-national field trials for pilot projects testing alternative travel documents at key border crossings by January 1, 2008; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that FCM support the positions being expressed by organizations including the Travel Industry Association of Canada, Binational Tourism Alliance, and Business for Economic Security, Trade and Tourism, similar to FCM s position, urging: (i) a single WHTI implementation date for all forms of travel; (ii) an exemption for children; (iii) further development of alternative travel documents by a bi-national working committee; (iv) the expansion of existing trusted traveller programs, such as NEXUS and FAST and the expedited construction of supporting technology and infrastructure such as special lanes and RFID be expedited; (v) the undertaking of a broad communications program clarifying the travel documents required and encouraging the public to acquire the required travel documents; and (vi) Canadian passports be issued for 10 years; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, with the request that he make the appropriate United States Government Departments and Officials aware of FCM s concerns and positions respecting the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative; and that copies of the resolution be forwarded to the Prime Minister of Canada, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Speaker of the House, all Parliament and the

13 Canadian Ambassador to the United States; the Binational Tourism Alliance, the Canadian Tourism Commission, the Business for Economic Security Trade and Tourism Coalition, and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative ANNUAL CONFERENCE DECISION: Category A ; Resolution Adopted, April 27, City of Toronto, Ontario

14 ANNEX 5 POTENTIAL QUESTIONS 1. What is wrong with a passport or a new passport card as border ID? There are several problems with requiring a passport at our land borders: o First, and most important, passports are not necessarily more secure since it relies on the same problematic foundation documents as WHTI attempts to eliminate at the border the birth certificate. o Only 23% of American s currently have a passport. Spontaneous, discretionary travellers without passports will not be able to cross the border when they want. o Passports are expensive ($97), and take a long time to obtain (up to six weeks). Multiply these barriers by 4 or more, and a family trip to visit relatives on the other side of the border becomes cost prohibitive and time consuming to plan. o Enhancing border security requires more than just new identification documents. It requires new infrastructure and processes like special lanes or radio-frequency ID chip scanners to stream efficiently low-risk travelers and allow officials to focus on higher risk goods and people. o We already carry a vast area of identification in our wallets. Do we really another special-purpose card? US officials have joked about George Kastanza s wallet! A new passport card (called a PASS card ), as has been proposed, presents other problems, and is not a solution either: o The proposed new document is still single-purpose, and at present, would appear to be based on the same suspect foundation documents as a passport. o It is not clear where or how it would be obtained, but it certainly won t be as common as a driver s license or other current form of ID o As a mother of young children I ask the question: compared to a passport, would the PASS document make it any easier for me to take my kids to a soccer tournament across the border? What about a family outing? Of if I make a last minute decision to go shopping on the other side of the border? I do not think so. o PASS offers some potential advantages over a passport but it will still present a barrier to many types of travellers, and more importantly, just as with a passport, will not make the border much more secure. o The announcement of the PASS card does not provide these answers. We must continue to advocate to U.S. authorities the importance of recognizing other existing documents as meeting the requirements of WHTI. 2. Security trumps trade. Are you saying we should put dollars in front of my safety? Absolutely not. I am as interested in securing the border as you. An insecure border is a security concern for all three countries. However, WHTI will not significantly enhance security, and it will also severely disrupt trade. We need to find a solution that actually enhances security. WHTI is not it. It is possible to secure the border so that the transit of low-risk travellers and goods are facilitated, allowing officials to focus their time where they are needed: screening higher risk individuals and goods.

15 3. Where did WHTI come from? The INTEL bill that passed through Congress in early 2004 contained a clause requiring enhanced documentation at the border. WHTI is the US Department of Homeland Security s administrative proposal to respond to this legislative direction. 4. If WHTI is so unworkable and unwise, how did it end up in law? The INTEL bill was over 4000 pages long. Most legislators did not read or reflect on this clause. For better or worse, the passport requirement appears in law. The challenge now is to help the Department of Homeland Security develop an administrative response which fulfills the legislative mandate efficiently and effectively. WHTI as proposed is neither, but it can be improved to satisfy all stakeholders. 5. Didn t the Senate just extend the deadline? Hasn t the problem been solved? While it is true that in June, the US Senate added an amendment to an immigration bill that would extend the WHTI implementation deadline from January 1, 2008 to June 1, 2009, this amendment does not represent success. The legislative process still has a long way to go, and it is far from guaranteed that this amendment will survive. Furthermore, although delaying WHTI is important so we have time to get border security right, it ignores the other half of the problem: what we have to do, how and when to get it right. We are here in Windsor to do both: ask for a extension to the deadline, but also identify real solutions.

16 ANNEX 6 WHTI INTERNET RESOURCES Regulations.gov Go to this site to see the original proposed rules for WHTI and all public comments submitted for consideration. Go to Advanced Search, choose Docket Search, then paste USCBP into the Docket ID field, press Submit, then click the link to see the original rules and the public submissions. US Department of State US Customs Canadian Embassy In Washington Canadian Border Services Agency BESTT Binational Tourism Alliance