Liberal public safety critic Mark Holland said it’s unacceptable that the Tories are trying to conduct such serious negotiations from “behind an iron curtain,” adding that the Conservatives should warn Canadians about their intentions. "When this government keeps you in the dark, it’s usually for a reason,” he said.
“This is a government that treats Canadians as children and tries to circumvent debate and feels they don't have enough knowledge to be consulted.”
Mr. Holland said Canada must not cede sovereignty over how it deals with refugees and immigration.
“There’s nothing wrong with working more closely with the Americans ... but the terms that govern this have to be set very carefully.”
Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Perrin Beatty said Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is the first Ottawa minister who is prepared to talk openly about forming a common security perimeter with the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
“For nine years, it was a word that politicians dared not speak,” said Mr. Beatty, whose group is the largest business lobby in Canada. He said this reticence was caused by a misplaced sense that Canadians would reject the idea. Mr. Beatty argues that Canadians are pragmatic and would accept the tradeoffs of closer integration with U.S. security.
He said he never would have predicted he’d agree to biometric scans as the price of having a NEXUS card that allows easier entry into the United States. “If anybody had told me I would be providing a retinal scan to our two governments, I would have said there was absolutely no way that would happen,” Mr. Beatty said.
“The simple fact is the world has changed. These are fair tradeoffs for us to make in order to have freedom of mobility.”
John Manley, a former Liberal deputy prime minister and now president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, said talks appear to be going in the right direction, but cautioned there has to be a bottom-line payoff in terms of smoother shipping at Canada-U.S. border land crossings.
“The real question will be what do we get at the border in exchange for greater co-ordination on security,” Mr. Manley said.
According to the communications strategy, key federal ministers would undertake a campaign to sell the deal to Canadians, including visits with editorial boards, media events and speeches.
