On Tuesday, September 25, 2012, Mr. Gord Brown, M.P., House of
Commons Co-Chair represented the Canadian Section of the Canada-United States
Inter-Parliamentary Group (IPG) at the fall meeting of the Canadian/American
(Can/Am) Border Trade Alliance, where he was invited to address meeting
participants.
THE EVENT
The Can/Am Border Trade Alliance (BTA) holds two meetings
each year: in the spring in Ottawa and in the fall in Washington, D.C. The BTA
is a coalition of businesses, public-sector organizations and individuals with
an interest in bilateral trade and tourism. Its mission is to maximize
commercial activity and ensure continued growth in cross-border trade as well
as efficient and productive border-crossing capabilities.
During the fall
meeting, sessions with the following titles were scheduled to be held:
·Alberta Update, including Oil Sands, Energy Overview and Insight
Attendees at the event included private-sector representatives
involved in a number of tourism, transportation and trade-related activities as
well as representatives of a variety of US and Canadian federal departments and
the Canadian Embassy in Washington.
DELEGATION OBJECTIVES FOR THE EVENT
The Canadian Section of the IPG has a long association with
the BTA, and members of the Section sometimes attend both the BTA’s fall and
spring meetings. Given the BTA’s focus, attendance at the meetings provides
members with an important opportunity to gain insight about problems being
experienced by businesses and individuals in respect of trade and tourism as
well as about efforts and actions by governments in both countries to address
these problems.
The Canadian Section’s House of Commons Co-Chair, Mr. Gord
Brown, M.P., spoke about the Section’s activities since the BTA’s 2012 spring
meeting.
At this meeting, as at other BTA meetings, members of the
Canadian Section benefitted from the opportunity to interact with, and learn
from, private- and public-sector organizations and individuals who deal with
border issues on a daily basis.
Attendance at the BTA meetings also provides members with an
opportunity to inform others about the range of actions taken by the Section in
respect of shared bilateral goals as well as differences, especially through
the invitation that is typically given to the Canadian Senate and House of
Commons Co-Chairs and/or Vice-Chairs of the Canadian Section to make remarks
about the Section’s activities and priorities. This was the primary focus of
Mr. Gord Brown’s attendance at this conference as he attended primarily to
deliver his address.
Annexed as “Appendix A” is the speech delivered by Mr. Gord
Brown, M.P. at the conference.