Deodorant that has already been inspected in the United States is inspected again when it comes into Canada. Why? I would think that's a good example. American and Canadian underarms aren't all that different. Why do we need a double inspection system?
I'm not saying we should harmonize all regulations, but we should look at those areas of regulation where it makes sense to adopt the same standard. Some sectors do it very well. Pesticide controls do it very well here. In general, we tend to think we need to have our own regulatory systems, and even when we're developing new ones, as in product safety recently, we tend to do it ourselves. We reinvent the wheel, even though the Americans are doing it differently. When it comes to border issues, product safety issues, and food product safety issues, we could be working together to develop new regulations at least, to make sure we have consistency--the same objectives but a consistent interpretation of those objectives, and mutual recognition of standards going forward.
It's a very complex issue, and I don't think it's an issue where you say we're going to harmonize everything. It takes departments to say we're going to do this and work together. I think the onus has to come from the Canadian side to do that. I think we can change a lot. A lot of the regulatory problems and inconsistencies we have are of our own making.