Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Honourable members, thank you for this invitation to speak to you about the Canada-U.S. relations dimensions of Canada's foreign policy. As you know, it is a topic that has received an enormous amount of attention across the country in recent weeks.
You are all aware, of course, that President Barack Obama was in Ottawa last Thursday for a working visit with the Prime Minister. The visit, which underscored the importance of the Canada-U.S. relationship, provided an important opportunity for the leaders to explore ways in which Canada and the United States can work together more closely to advance our shared bilateral and international objectives.
During the visit, the President and the Prime Minister discussed each country's efforts to strengthen our economies, as well as our respective economic recovery packages and how we can work together—including through the G-8 and the G-20 processes—to restore confidence in international markets and to help our economies recover. The leaders also discussed North American security, including the management of the Canada-U.S. border, environmental protection, and the development of clean energy technologies.
The visit was also an important occasion to set a positive and forward-looking tone to our relations with the new U.S. administration. As both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have indicated, we are seeking to renew our bilateral relationship with our most important partner, the United States. The continued good health of this relationship is vital to Canadian prosperity. The new U.S. administration presents an opportunity for both countries to find new ways to work together on shared priorities and challenges—on the economy, on climate change and energy, and on international security and foreign policy.
As assistant deputy minister for North America in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, I can assure you that we have been working towards engaging the new administration in Congress for some time now. Through our embassy in Washington and our 22 missions in the United States, we have been very active in advocating Canada's interests and engaging the incoming key players in Washington and at the state government level. We do this in close cooperation with other federal government departments in order to ensure a whole-of-government approach to Canada-U.S. engagement.
In the United States, our missions have been working to reinforce to key American opinion leaders that Canada is a key economic and security partner and their largest energy supplier, that both countries will benefit from working together to strengthen our integrated economies during these difficult times, and that collaborating to protect our shared environment is in our best interests.
Here at home, the department has played a leading role in supporting the Government of Canada's efforts to engage the new administration for the benefit of Canadians, to coordinate the advancement of Canada's policy priorities, and to ensure that no U.S. actions negatively affect Canadian interests. We have also been working with the provinces and territories, including on visits to the United States by premiers, given that they too play an important role in advancing Canada-U.S. relations.
Since his election in November, President Obama has signalled an open, collaborative, and pragmatic approach and has indicated that the United States is looking for allies and partners on key issues. This is important for Canada's foreign policy, as it presents an opportunity for Canada to advance our interests by working with the United States to achieve our goals—for example, at the Summit of the Americas.
In fact, the deep and diverse relationship we share provides many opportunities for collaboration. We share political, economic, environmental, and social ties and many values and interests: from enhancing North American competitiveness to the defence and security of our continent, to international security priorities such as Afghanistan and nuclear non-proliferation, to our priorities in the hemisphere and the stewardship and protection of our shared environment. We also share the largest bilateral flow of goods, services, people, and capital between any two countries in the world.
Our first and most important challenge will certainly be to address the global economic downturn and to take action to promote the recovery of our economies. Given the paramount importance of the Canada-U.S. trading relationship and the highly integrated nature of the North American economy, Canada and the United States must continue to work together to promote the recovery and strengthening of our economies. More than $1 million of goods and services crosses the border every minute and well over 300,000 people each day. The economic outlook is challenging for the United States in the short and medium term, with some forecasters suggesting that the nation's GDP will contract by 6% in the first quarter of 2009. More than 600,000 jobs were lost in January. We have seen the fallout in Canada already as Canadian manufacturing, heavily dependent on U.S. business, suffered in December, dropping 8% in sales compared to the previous month. The auto industry, one of the sectors with the closest integration on the continent, is especially vulnerable.
We will continue to support Canadian businesses seeking assistance in the United States market, whether they want to deepen and secure current relationships or find new opportunities. To do this we have established a series of business development and advocacy networks on areas as diverse as energy, the economy, and defence cooperation, thus reaching out to a whole new range of stakeholders and business clients. We have greatly increased resources focused on the United States and have a stronger focus on the attraction and retention of greenfield investment, for example, but have also moved into completely new areas such as working with scientists and venture capitalists in the commercialization of emerging technologies. We've expanded our capability to conduct effective and targeted advocacy by using advanced research and database tools.
In order to protect and expand our commerce, there's no question that the Canada-U.S. border remains a policy priority for Canada and is also a key area for cooperation with the new administration. We have a long-standing security partnership that protects North America against terrorism. Our border, intelligence, and immigration agencies and police forces have been cooperating for decades. This cooperation must continue as the management of our shared border remains a key element of our close economic and security partnership with the United States. This includes ensuring that the border remains open to legitimate tourism and trade and closed to threats. Our highly integrated and interdependent economies, our collective competitiveness, and our economic recovery depend on smart and efficient border management at a time when our industries need all the help they can get.
It is also clear that environmental, climate change, and energy issues are policy priorities for both countries and present opportunities for collaboration. We have a long history of joint stewardship of the environment from air and water quality to wildlife management. This includes at least 50 federal bilateral arrangements, more than 100 arrangements at the state and provincial levels, and the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
President Obama has been clear that the environment is one of his highest priorities and on the need for the United States to reduce its dependence on foreign energy supplies. Last week, during the visit of the president, the two leaders agreed to establish a senior level Canada-United States clean energy dialogue that will cooperate on several critical energy science and technology issues, including expanding clean energy research and development, the development and deployment of clean energy technology, and the building of a more efficient electric grid based on clean and renewable generation.
Looking beyond our continent to our wider foreign policy objectives, there are additional opportunities for collaboration to advance the interests of both countries. Canada has been and will continue to be an active partner to the United States through a number of multilateral fora and upcoming summits, including the G-8, the G-20, NATO, and the Summit of the Americas process. We are in a position where we can contribute to multilateral solutions to ongoing challenges and the government will seek to enhance our cooperation regarding our shared peace and security concerns, for example, on Afghanistan and on non-proliferation issues.
Our defence relationship with the United States has grown over the years and is central to our future security and well-being. Canada has benefited immensely from this defence partnership and we will continue to work with the United States at home and abroad. Indeed, defence cooperation has assured both our countries greater security than we could have achieved on our own.
Canada and the United States have a long and successful history of cooperation on global issues. We share the same values: freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. We welcome the new administration's enthusiasm for global engagement and its desire to rekindle United States' leadership in the world. We are confident that our unparalleled partnership will remain strong and forward looking as we work together to enhance North American competitiveness and for the security and well-being of our people.
Thank you.
