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Bush wants to push positive message at meeting hosted by Harper, source says
May 11, 2007 04:30 AM
Alexander Panetta
Canadian Press
OTTAWA–U.S. President George W. Bush hopes to debunk a few negative misconceptions about post-9/11 North America when he arrives in Canada for a two-day summit this August.
He and Mexican President Felipe Calderon will arrive at the rural hotel resort Chateau Montebello near Ottawa for a summit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper that begins Aug. 21, sources in two countries say.
The meeting has not yet been announced and the official agenda is still being finalized but U.S. officials are already fine-tuning the hopeful message they want to convey.
Mexican officials also confirmed the meeting. Only the Canadian government refused to comment.
The Americans plan to combat impressions that the U.S. and its continental neighbours have been – or should be – locking down their borders after 9/11 to the detriment of trade and human relationships.
"This is a region that works and that's a story that needs to be told," said one U.S. official.
"There's a perception that countries are turning inward, borders are thickening since 9/11. The statistics really don't bear it out. The decisions people are making to move, to travel, to study and to purchase in each of our three countries are continuing apace."
Officials will arrive at the posh Chateau Montebello resort armed with statistics to support their case.
Those numbers tell a different tale than the alarmist coverage of many cross-border events: Canadian tourists killed in Mexico; U.S. handguns being smuggled into both countries; illegal Mexican immigrants sneaking into the U.S.; trade disputes; and new passport requirements.
The reality is Canadian exports to the U.S. have risen almost 50 per cent since Sept. 11, 2001 – to $303.4 billion U.S. in 2006, from $216.3 billion five years earlier. Canadian imports have risen to $230.6 billion last year from $163.4 billion in 2001.
Canada's exports to Mexico have almost doubled since 2001 to $4.4 billion last year; its imports have grown to $16 billion from $12 billion in 2001.
www.thestar.com/article/212841
May 11, 2007 04:30 AM
Alexander Panetta
Canadian Press
OTTAWA–U.S. President George W. Bush hopes to debunk a few negative misconceptions about post-9/11 North America when he arrives in Canada for a two-day summit this August.
He and Mexican President Felipe Calderon will arrive at the rural hotel resort Chateau Montebello near Ottawa for a summit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper that begins Aug. 21, sources in two countries say.
The meeting has not yet been announced and the official agenda is still being finalized but U.S. officials are already fine-tuning the hopeful message they want to convey.
Mexican officials also confirmed the meeting. Only the Canadian government refused to comment.
The Americans plan to combat impressions that the U.S. and its continental neighbours have been – or should be – locking down their borders after 9/11 to the detriment of trade and human relationships.
"This is a region that works and that's a story that needs to be told," said one U.S. official.
"There's a perception that countries are turning inward, borders are thickening since 9/11. The statistics really don't bear it out. The decisions people are making to move, to travel, to study and to purchase in each of our three countries are continuing apace."
Officials will arrive at the posh Chateau Montebello resort armed with statistics to support their case.
Those numbers tell a different tale than the alarmist coverage of many cross-border events: Canadian tourists killed in Mexico; U.S. handguns being smuggled into both countries; illegal Mexican immigrants sneaking into the U.S.; trade disputes; and new passport requirements.
The reality is Canadian exports to the U.S. have risen almost 50 per cent since Sept. 11, 2001 – to $303.4 billion U.S. in 2006, from $216.3 billion five years earlier. Canadian imports have risen to $230.6 billion last year from $163.4 billion in 2001.
Canada's exports to Mexico have almost doubled since 2001 to $4.4 billion last year; its imports have grown to $16 billion from $12 billion in 2001.
www.thestar.com/article/212841
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