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DELEGATION MEMBERS AND STAFF 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: · Customs and Border Protection · Brokers and Logistics Panel · Federal Highway Administration · CAN/AM Border Trade Alliance Technology Monitoring · The Canadian Perspective · Field Operations – Customs and Border Protection · U.S. – Canada Energy · CBP Centers of Excellence and Expertise · Canada – U.S. Border Briefing · View from Congress · 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.
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