Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Liberal Party of CanadaNathan Denette/The Canadian Press
After months of secret negotiations, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced last week his desire to seek a new security deal with the United States. The content of the proposal and the manner in which it came about raise serious questions about the government's commitment to defending our sovereignty, our privacy and our rights as Canadian citizens.
A negotiation of this magnitude demands transparency. Canadians need to know what is on the table. Instead, despite months of leaks, news stories and questions in Parliament, Mr. Harper has yet to utter the words "perimeter security" in the House of Commons. The ministers of Public Safety, Foreign Affairs and International Trade have said even less.
After last week's announcement, this ambiguity is of greater concern.
The Conservatives seem ready to provide the U.S. government with unprecedented amounts of private information about Canadian travellers. On Friday, Mr. Harper and President Barack Obama issued a joint declaration that commits Canada and the U.S. to work "to establish and verify the identities of travellers and conduct screening at the earliest opportunity."
There are serious privacy concerns here. For example, what forms of biometric data would Canadians be required to provide? How much of that data will Canadian authorities share with Washington?
What about Canada's immigration system? The decisions we make to grant or refuse citizenship or refugee status are fundamental to our sovereignty - and to the future of our society. Such decisions must remain in Canadian hands.
Yet, the proposed perimeter security deal could put this aspect of our sovereignty on the bargaining table. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, senators Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins and other senior U.S. officials have all said that Canada's immigration and refugee policies constitute a threat to U.S. security. American politicians have even suggested - falsely, of course - that some of those responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks arrived in the U.S. across the 49th parallel.
The Obama administration has usually been quick to quash this kind of innuendo, but uncertainty lies ahead. The 2012 U.S. elections are on the horizon, the American public is preoccupied with security, and right-wing Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives.
Under these circumstances, Canadians need to know: How much decision-making authority over Canada's immigration policy is Mr. Harper prepared to give to the U.S.? Does the Conservative government intend to yield to U.S. demands that we change our immigration and refugee system? In a perimeter security deal, who will speak for new Canadians?
On America's other land border, with Mexico, "security co-operation" has led to significant U.S. control over Mexico's security priorities and intelligence operations. Is this the future Mr. Harper envisions for Canada?
These and other questions must be answered, but the Conservative government seems determined not to answer them. We still do not know how much the proposed perimeter security measures - including new border infrastructure and expanded digital capacity - will cost, or if they will be included in the next federal budget. We still do not know who will sit on the Beyond the Border Working Group, or when it will present its recommendations.
Parliament is the place to answer these questions, in public, in front of the elected representatives of the Canadian people. Mr. Harper must do so.
Michael Ignatieff is the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.