BILATERALIST

GET TO KNOW… BRIAN BOW

Luiza Ch. Savage — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:57:23 +0000

Brian Bow is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Dalhousie University and a Senior Fellow at the Center for North American Studies at American University. His book, The Politics of Linkage: Power, Interdependence, and Ideas in Canada-US Relations (UBC Press) won the Donner Prize for 2009. He has been a visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Georgetown University, the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, and the Australian National University.

You can contact him through the Political Science department at Dalhousie or by email at brian.bowATdalhousie.ca

What do you actually do in your job?

I teach classes, mentor students, conduct research, present my work at conferences and workshops, and serve on various university committees.

What is the hardest thing about your job?

The hardest thing about being a professor is that it is really several jobs in one, and you have to juggle them all at the same time.

Up until a couple of years ago, most of my research was on US-Canada bilateral relations, but more recently I have been doing more work on US-Mexico relations and North American regional politics. I’m working on three different books right now, a solo book on the “rise and decline” of the North American integration project, a co-edited volume on policy coordination in North America, and a co-edited volume on transnational crime in Mexico. That last project stirred an interest in “security sector reform,” and the different approaches that developed countries take in trying to encourage military and police reform in developing countries; I’m in the early stages of a new research project in this area.

What do you most enjoy about it?

See the part about “several jobs in one,” above. I especially enjoy engaging with students in the classroom, particularly in seminar classes, and focusing on the connection between abstract academic theories and the much more complicated reality of diplomacy and politics.

Where were you born and raised?

North Vancouver, BC. (Easiest way to explain where that is to use the standard postcard photo of Vancouver: in those mountains in the background, it’s on the right side, about halfway up the mountain.)

What did you study?

I started off as a business admin student, but soured on it quickly, bailed out, and then came back. I did my BA in International Relations at UBC, a Masters in Political Science at York University, and a PhD in Government at Cornell.

What was your first job and what path led you to your work today?

I’ve never really had a real job except as a university professor. I flipped burgers and served drinks to pay for school. After I got things sorted out in school, I was always pretty sure I wanted to be an academic, and that certainty helped me get through the rough patches. Now that I’m there, though, I am curious about other what it might be like to follow other paths.

What is the best advice you received in the course of your career?

This is a tough one. I guess it would be something my dissertation supervisor told me, near the end of the process: find something outside of work that you enjoy, and that helps you let go of work worries and stress, so you don’t get burned out. I think I recognize that now as good advice, though I haven’t always followed it in practice.

Looking back, what are you most proud of?

My two daughters, definitely. They’ve moved all over the place, and gone through some stressful times, but they are turning out to be not just good kids but wonderful young ladies, and I love spending time with them.

When and how do you start your day?

For the last twelve years, I’ve been waking up whenever my kids wake up, which would have been pretty much any time between 5:00 and 6:30am. Sometimes I would go for a run, but more often just make coffee, read the news, and check email. Gradually the kids started waking up later, to the point where I started to need an alarm clock to get them up in time to go to school. So just when that started to sort itself out, and the option opened up for me to wake up when I was ready to wake up, my wife and I caved in to the kids’ demand for a puppy, and now I’m right back where I was twelve years ago. Waking up bleary-eyed and confused, but now doing it walking around the neighborhood with the leash in one hand and a little plastic bag in the other…

Blogs or websites you find interesting or useful:

I’m not much of a blog person. I split my time between the newspapers and academic journals.

Where are you most likely to be found when you’re not working?

At home. I spend a lot of time at home, and work at home as much as I can.

If you had an alternative career, what would it be?

Novelist? Graphic designer? Architect?

Favorite sports team?

Vancouver Canucks, I suppose, though my interest in sports seems to be evaporating as I get older.

Who is your hero or heroine?

There are lots of people I admire, but I don’t think I have a hero/heroine that I think of as such. What I admire most is accomplishing big and important things, but still being a decent human being, which—as far as I can tell—is pretty rare.

Drink of choice?

This stumped me; I’m not a teetotaler, but I’m also not a “drink of choice” kind of guy. I never drink unless it goes with a conversation, and then the conversation is more important than the drink.

Hobbies?

Running, though I do it less often than I’d like, and far less often than I should. Hiking and canoeing, when I can find time.

What is one worthwhile book you read in the past year?

The last good book I read was Charles Mann’s 1491, which my wife gave me as a birthday present.

What is one thing you’d like to learn more about?

The history and politics of Latin America, especially Mexico.

What is your favorite place in Canada and your favorite place in the US?

My favorite place in Canada is definitely Vancouver, and especially the mountains north of the city. But a lot of that is nostalgia, because I haven’t been able to get back there many times over the last twenty years, and the city has changed a lot. I really like the Washington DC area, but I guess my favorite place in the US would have to be Ithaca, New York, where I did my PhD work. It’s a small town, far from everything, but it’s beautiful in its own way, and a friendly, easygoing place to live.

What is one thing you’d like to tell Canadians about the U.S., and/or one thing you’d tell Americans about Canada?

When you think about what Canada is, and where it is, it is bizarre that Canadians are not the world’s leading experts on what makes the United States tick. They think they are, but they are wrong. (Watching a lot of US television does count for something, but it’s not the same thing as understanding how the American system works…) There should be world-class US Studies programs at every major university in Canada, but there are only a few, and those often have fewer resources than academic programs for studying other parts of the world that are—to be blunt—far less important to Canada.

When you think about what the United States is, and how it fits in the world, it is not at all surprising that Americans know next-to-nothing about Canada. That in itself doesn’t worry me much. What does worry me is the way that some American pundits and lobbyists have used warped stereotypes of Canada to make arguments about US policy problems like health care, gun control, or environmental regulation. It seems Americans are talking more about Canada these days, but usually they are really talking about a two-dimensional cliché that doesn’t exist, rather than the much more complicated, interesting reality.

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Also Get to Know…Peter Morton, Julie Jacobson, David Jacobson, David Archibald, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Connect2Canada, Perrin Beatty,David Biette, John Parisella, Sheldon Alberts, Danielle Droitsch, Lee-Anne Goodman, David Wilkins, Christy Cox,Chris Sands, Birgit Matthiesen, Scotty Greenwood, Luiza Ch. Savage

The Rise of the Canadian-American Business Council

Luiza Ch. Savage — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:45:58 +0000

Guest column by financial journalist, Peter Morton.

WASHINGTON—The way Scotty Greenwood sees it, Canada and the U.S. has entered a new era of reciprocity—one that extends into the deepest of American traditions, the July 4th Independence Day celebrations.

While Canadians are celebrating with American Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson in Ottawa, America will be celebrating the holiday with Gary Doer, Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. from the rooftop of the Canadian embassy in Washington.

“And the D.C. celebration is being hosted by the Canadian-American Business Council which is a new model of entertaining by public-private partnership,” says Greenwood, senior advisor to the organization.

The CABC-sponsored celebration in Washington Wednesday at arguably the best vantage point for watching the fireworks also marks a key transition for the CABC, launched a quarter century ago largely as a Washington lunch club for Canadian ex-patriots.

Underscoring the CABC’s new clout inside the Beltway is not only the sponsors of the July 4th celebration – Air Canada, Canadian National, Bombardier and high-tech video newcomer NGRAIN– but its lists of members on both sides of the border.

They range from American Apparel & Footwear Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, Baxter Corporation, Campbell Soup Company, Coca-Cola Refreshments, Dickstein Shapiro LLP, Exxon Mobil, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, MTS Allstream, Ontario Media Development Corporation, RBC Royal Bank, Research In Motion, Revolution Organics, Shell Canada, Spectra Energy, Target, TransCanada, United Technologies, and UPS.

CABC found its new strength after 9/11 when suddenly the friendly open border for both people and commerce evaporated almost overnight.

“Canadian business came to a total halt,” says Greenwood.

Suddenly American companies which had long relied on Canadian supply chains watched them disappear.

Meanwhile, Canadian companies suddenly noticed they finally had the attention of American companies.

Spurred by former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Jim Blanchard, another former U.S. ambassador to Canada, Gordon Giffin and Scotty Greenwood, a former U.S. diplomat in Ottawa, took up the cause of the CABC.

They beefed up membership and replaced luncheon meetings with more high-powered board meetings and a direct advocacy role both in Congress and in the administration. As well, it concentrated on the government in Ottawa.

CABC directors have met twice already this year with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the U.S. at roundtables held around the margins of leaders’ meetings in the White House and at the NATO Summit in Chicago.

In addition, the CABC directors have met recently with top State Department and Commerce Department officials to push the Canada-U.S. relationship.

“We became a serious advocacy organization,” says Greenwood.

Although getting final approvals for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline – a 1,700-mile line designed to carry oil from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries in southern Texas—remains elusive, the CABC can claim some of the credit for pushing for Canada’s inclusion in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations.

The CABC Advisory Board is co-chaired by Doer, the current Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. and U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson. The Advisory Board also includes all former Ambassadors to Canada and the U.S., plus former New York Congressman John LaFalce, former Senator Jack Austin, P.C., Q.C., and former minister Barbara McDougall.

Doer said the council and its members worked tirelessly on convincing Congress and the White House to include Canada in the TPP talks. Canada was admitted as a member several weeks ago.

“Congress doesn’t want to talk to nice people,” says Doer. “It wants to talk to people who are effective.”

“The need for a strong CABC has never been greater,” notes Kelly Johnston, vice-president of government affairs at the Campbell Soup Company in Camden, N.J.. “The U.S.-Canada economic relationship has suffered for far too long from benign neglect, and since 9/11, we’ve seen thickening of the border and some erosion of our special, historic relationship. “

The 13th round of TPP talks are now taking place in San Diego among Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States. Both Canada and Mexico have been invited to join but are not yet included in the formal negotiations.

Marvin Odum, upstream Americas director at Royal Dutch Shell PLC., said in a speech to the CABC’s annual Washington policy forum in June that the Council “provides key insights” on a range of topics that are important to firms on both sides of the border – from regulatory cooperation, to border efficiencies, to energy security, to sustainability, to protecting economic growth.

“CABC helps shape policy debates in both Ottawa and Washington – and any number of states and provinces,” he said. “The CABC helps maintain the movement of more than $750 billion in goods and services – roughly the size of Turkey’s entire GDP – across the 49th parallel every year.”

[Reprinted with permission of author.]

LINKS July 30, 2012

Luiza Ch. Savage — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:30:13 +0000

DIPLOMACY

Protesters greet premiers meeting with US governors [CBC]

Canadians love Democrats, but Republicans friendlier [CP]

BORDER

NY border to be focus of congressional hearing Monday [AP]

US man gets 3 years for gun smuggling [CBC]

US study of Canadian ports both applauded and panned [CP]

US agency questions Canadian port security [CP]

US official slams port report [CP]

Last unmanned border crossing closes between QC and VT [The Gazette]

TRADE/ECONOMY

Alberta’s economy shows no sign of slowing down [inews880]

S&P cuts ratings on seven Canadian banks [CP]

US securities regulator alleges insider trading ahead of China’s Nexen bid [Reuters]

DEFENSE

Syria expanded chemical weapons supply with Iran’s aid [Washington Post]

Romney on Iran: ‘Any and all measures’ [Washington Post]

Panetta says Assad hastening own demise [AP]

ENERGY

BC premier’s standoff with Alberta derails chance for national energy strategy [Postmedia News]

Leave Alberta out of BC’s pipeline demands: Redford [Globe and Mail]

Enbridge to replace leaky Wisconsin oil pipeline Monday [Reuters]

TransCanada gets key go-ahead for southern leg [Washington Post]

Canada’s oil, the world’s carbon [NY Times]

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Myers: TPP is defense; EU pact is offense; China is next

Luiza Ch. Savage — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 21:34:18 +0000

Jayson Myers, the head of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, was in Washington, DC today speaking about Canadian trade policy at the National Press Club.

On the Trans-Pacific Partnership:

“Canada has a clear defensive interest in TPP negotiations simply because we don’t want to see any NAFTA preference eroded by a trade agreement that does not include Canada and Mexico.”

On the EU trade agreement negotiations:

“The Canada EU trade agreement certainly offers the Canada business community more benefits in terms of an offensive trade policy than the TPP does.

“The European agreement in my view really sets the standard for a 21st century economic agreement.

“It approaches services in a new ways. Instead of a positive list, it moves to a negative list. It touches labour mobility. It will include state, provincial, municipal and federal procurement. A much more liberal code for procurement. It will include a more aggressive investment agreement. This is the first time the European Commission is negotiating an investment agreement. It will touch on agriculture and intellectual property.”

“If we can nail a European agreement, it will set the standard for negotiations with other countries.

On China:

“There will be be an announcement most likely at APEC that Canada and China will begin to negotiate a number of areas. Not necessarily a free trade agreement but there are significant areas of interest for Canada and China to negotiate. It’ll be an announcement about taking a look at a study of where the benefits of Canada and China lie and what sort of an economic negotiation would best hold those benefits for both sides. I think the key areas there are investment, tax, implementation of trade rules, and making sure there is effective enforcement of trade rules and intellectual property protection. From the Canadian point of view, the economic relationship with China is key.”

GET TO KNOW…. PETER MORTON

Luiza Ch. Savage — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:00:55 +0000

Peter Morton is a veteran trade, economic and political reporter and columnist, and founder of economicreporter.net. He is the former the Washington Bureau Chief for The Financial Post, a position he held for 12 years. His coverage in Washington covered bilateral trade issues including softwood, agriculture and the Western Hemisphere Initiative. He can be reached at petermortonATeconomicreporter.net.

What do you actually do in your job?

Report, write and generally editorialize on bilateral and multilateral trade and economic issues

What is the hardest thing about your job?

Getting people to talk openly

What do you most enjoy about it?

When people talk openly.

Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Toronto but raised in Brockville in Eastern Ontario.

What did you study?

I studied journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto and later economics and political science at the University of Toronto.

What was your first job and what path led you to your work today?

I was a cub reporter at the Brockville Recorder & Times, with a Speed Graphix camera and a red bicycle.

What is the best advice you received in the course of your career?

“F8 and be there” – from a Calgary Herald photographer. (F8 is an an F-stop generally used by photographers to capture everything in view behind the lens. So he meant “be at the story” and see as much as you can.)

Looking back, what are you most proud of?

The day my fixer and I found the place where the Canadian mining company Bre-X was “salting” the ore samples with gold dust in a shack on the edge of the Borneo jungle.

When and how do you start your day?

The usual – up around 6:30, check the news and start arranging interviews.

Blogs or websites you find interesting or useful:

Blogs not so much but pretty much any news website is up to date. Huffington is always interesting.

Where are you most likely to be found when you’re not working?

On the golf course or on the St. Lawrence River.

If you had an alternative career, what would it be?

Golf course marshall.

Favorite sports team?

Used to be the Leafs but alas, I am now floundering.

Who is your hero or heroine?

My parents – at least they had the patience to put up with me.

Drink of choice?

Rose from the South of France. Only.

Hobbies?

Golf.

What is one worthwhile book you read in the past year?

Autumn of the Patriarch, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Anything Gabo has written.

What is one thing you’d like to learn more about?

South American culture.

What is your favorite place in Canada and your favorite place in the US?

Brockville, Ontario and Savannah, Georgia.

What is one thing you’d like to tell Canadians about the U.S., and/or one thing you’d tell Americans about Canada?

As close as we are, we are still two very different cultures. Canada is neither the 51^st state nor is America the world’s largest shopping mall.

***

Also Get to Know… Julie Jacobson, David Jacobson, David Archibald, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Connect2Canada, Perrin Beatty,David Biette, John Parisella, Sheldon Alberts, Danielle Droitsch, Lee-Anne Goodman, David Wilkins, Christy Cox,Chris Sands, Birgit Matthiesen, Scotty Greenwood, Luiza Ch. Savage

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On Twitter at luizachsavage

LINKS July 26, 2012

Luiza Ch. Savage — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:45:27 +0000

BORDER

American agency poised to criticize Canada for luring cargo from US ports [CP]

Costly Canadian border bottlenecks frustrate Minnesota businesses [Star Tribune]

Immigration crackdown in upstate New York [nacla.org]

Top Ten customs-related issues facing Canadian importers [Financial Post]

NEXUS program lifts residency requirement [Delta Optimist]

New NEXUS lane open in BC [Marketwire]

TRADE/ECONOMY

Latest Canadian export to Main Street USA: Joe Fresh [Wall Street Journal]

Drought to drive up food prices next year, US says [NY Times]

Fed sees benefits and risks in new moves [NY Times]

US Senate passes bill to keep tax cuts for middle class [Washington Post]

DEFENSE

Canada open to boosting Syrian humanitarian aid [CBC]

Baird rejects military intervention in Syria [Globe and Mail]

Al Qaeda taking deadly new role in Syria’s conflict [NY Times]

Ignatius: The “day after” in Syria [Washington Post]

ENERGY

Keystone XL foes protest on anniversary [Omaha World-Herald]

Montana congressmen push Obama on Keystone XL [Missoulian]

US Senate GOP plan new push to approve Keystone XL, expand offshore drilling [The Hill]

TransCanada urged to “Go East” [Financial Post]

Republicans, Nexen, and Keystone XL [Macleans.ca]

BC calls on Alberta, Ottawa to join pipeline talks [Globe and Mail]

More weather extremes leave parts of US grid buckling [NY Times]

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Live webcast: Regulatory Cooperation action plan update

Luiza Ch. Savage — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 02:29:44 +0000

This Thursday morning event looks very interesting:

The Regulatory Cooperation Council Action Plan at Six Months

July 26, 2012 // 10:00am — 11:30am

There will be a live webcast of this event.

The Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, Program on America and the Global Economy, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

present

A Beyond the Border Initiative Discussion

with

Robert Carberry, assistant secretary, Regulatory Cooperation Council Secretariat, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Alex T. Hunt, branch chief, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget

and moderator

Adam Schlosser, senior manager, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Global Regulatory Cooperation

and Stakeholder Response Panel with

David Adams, Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada
Gene Eckhart, NEMA
Michael Fitzpatrick, General Electric
Kelly Johnston, Campbell’s Soup
Brian Read, XL Foods

To strengthen the world’s largest trading relationship, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the Regulatory Cooperation Council Action Plan on December 7, 2011. The Action Plan lays out clear goals designed to enhance the already integrated economies and supply chains of Canada and the United States, aiming to align rules and regulations in four key sectors: agriculture and food, health and consumer products, transportation, and the environment. More importantly, the Action Plan set a two year timeframe to achieve greater alignment. Six months ago, the United States and Canada met with stakeholders over two days to solicit input for the 29 sector-specific initiatives.

The Canada Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce welcomes Robert Carberry and Alex Hunt to discuss the Action Plan following its six month anniversary, providing updates on the initiatives’ progress towards meeting the two year objective, and also answering stakeholder questions. Carberry and Hunt will address what milestones have been achieved, what challenges have been encountered, and how the various parties are working together to ensure that the Action Plan meets its ambitious goals and assure the continued growth and streamlining of trade between Canada and the United States.

LOCATION:

6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

DIRECTIONS TO THE WILSON CENTER

Event Speakers List:

Alex T. Hunt //

branch chief, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
Robert Carberry //

assistant secretary, Regulatory Cooperation Council Secretariat, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Adam Schlosser //

senior manager, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Global Regulatory Cooperation