The Value of Cross-Border Relations between British Columbia and Washington

1
The Value of Cross-Border Relations between
British Columbia and Washington

• Sukumar Periwal
• Washington Joint Legislative Meeting Presentation
• Vancouver, BC
• November 14, 2007

2
BC and Washington Best Friends

• Washington and British Columbia are not just
  neighbors. We are best friends.
• Governor Christine Gregoire
• October 7, 2006

3
What we have in common

• Shared history and values
• Shared geography
• Economic links trade and investment
• Infrastructure interdependence
• Shared institutions
• Ongoing cooperation

4
Important economic partners

• Washington accounts for 19 of BCs total
  international trade
• Canada is Washingtons 2 trading partner
• Exports contributed to nearly half of all new
  jobs in Washington over the last 30 years
• Expansion of Canadian companies contribute 3900
  jobs in Whatcom County and generate sales of 409
  million
• Expansion of US companies create 9100 jobs in BC
  Lower Mainland and sales of 705 million

5
Shared environment

• Airsheds (and air pollution)
• Watersheds (aquifers, rivers, ocean)
• Migratory species (salmon, grizzly bears)

6
Strong bilateral cooperation

• BC-Washington Memorandum of Cooperation, October
  2005
• demonstrate cross-border and international
  leadership through joint initiatives
• enhance mutually beneficial relations
• extend cooperation in the areas of trade, 2010
  Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games,
  environment, tourism, technology, education and
  transportation

7
BC-WA Annual Joint Cabinet Meetings

• Cooperation agreements signed on
• emergency management
• public health emergency response
• cross-border transportation mobility
• climate change and ocean conservation
• Joint actions on
• combating crystal meth
• shared economic and tourism Opportunities
• Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
• Joint work on enhanced drivers license project
• Climate change and conservation

8
Emergency preparedness no news is good news

• Pacific Northwest Emergency Management
  Arrangement (PNEMA) brings together state and
  provincial emergency management directors
• PNEMA-B signed in 2006 by Premier Campbell and
  Governor Gregoire enabling cross-border
  cooperation (although not clear if border
  agencies are on board)
• Pacific North West Economic Region has run
  critical infrastructure protection Blue
  Cascades exercises since 2001
• Next major critical infrastructure protection
  event in December 2007 (Microsoft campus, Redmond
  WA)

9
New areas of cooperation

• Partnering with other Pacific Coast neighbours
  and US states and Canadian provinces to address
  climate change
• Western Climate Initiative
• Climate Registry
• A new Pacific Coast Collaborative to address and
  build on unique challenges faced by coastal
  jurisdictions Fall 2007

10
Many other areas of cooperation

• Bilateral cooperation
• Successful BC-Washington Environmental
  Cooperation Council for over a decade
• Strong mutual support on fighting forest fires
• BC-WA public health collaboration annual
  conferences
• Multilateral cooperation and regional
  partnerships
• Pacific North West Economic Region
• Pacific North West Emergency Management Agreement
  (PNEMA)
• Pacific North West Environmental Directors
  regular meetings

11
Major challenge Canada and the U.S. need to work
together with BC and Washington on border issues

• The Canada-U.S. border is not like the U.S.-
  Mexico border
• Canada and the U.S. are working closely together
  on anti-terrorism, law enforcement, and
  intelligence
• Unilateral measures (e.g. WHTI passport
  requirement) hurt cross-border tourism and trade
  without increasing real security
• Border crossing between BC and Washington must be
  improved well before the 2010 Olympics

12
The Canada-US border is not like the border with
Mexico

• Focus on border with Mexico shapes US border
  policy and personnel
• Political sensitivity to treating US-Canada
  border differently than US-Mexico border

13
Coordinated law enforcement works

• July 22, 2005 law enforcement officials disrupt
  110 meter tunnel between Lynden, WA and
  Aldergrove, BC
• 5 arrests 3 in Canada, 2 in US

14
WHTI is hurting our economies

• Cost of passport for family of 4 US 358 Cdn
  248
• Convention cancellations and less cross-border
  travel as a result of uncertainty and lack of
  clarity on identity document requirements
• January to April 2007 US same day visitors to BC
  dropped 12.7
• Expected increase in wait times in line-ups at
  the border as a result of increased scrutiny of
  identity documents

15
BC and Washington are leading the way on better
identity documents

• Mutual recognition of each others identity
  documents is the basis for cross-border travel,
  commerce and reducing fraud
• State and provincial responsibility for
  foundational documents - basis for authenticity
  of passports and drivers licenses
• Leading the way with better documents and
  user-friendly solutions BC-WA enhanced drivers
  license initiative (to be launched January 2008)

16
February 2010 the world is watching

• 2010 Olympics are a once in a lifetime
  opportunity to brand the Pacific Northwest as a
  global location of choice
• The Olympics are embedded in a real-world
  security context border delays and
  transportation challenges
• Failure to manage border congestion is not an
  option before the real-time eyes of 3 billion TV
  viewers

17
Thank you for your friendship and for visiting
British Columbia!