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March 28, 2008 Prompted by an interview with the Minister of Industry, Jim Prentice, about the workings of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, Hélène Buzzetti published an article last week in Le Devoir (March 22-23) entitled, “Adieux aux promesses de Montbello” (‘Kiss Montebello promises good-bye’). Buzzetti acknowledges major public opposition to the SPP early on in her article, and she is very critical of the failure of Prime Minister Harper and his colleagues, together with Presidents Bush and Calderón, to make good on what she says was their definite commitment, articulated after Montebello, to form a “co-ordination committee” to make public the “progress on the harmonization of regulations.” According to the interview with Prentice, the co-ordination committee meant to inform the public has not been established and never will be. “The committee which exists at present is comprised of myself, the Secretary [of the US Department of Commerce, Carlos] Gutierrez, and Secretary [of State for the Economy of Mexico, Eduardo] Sojo [Garza-Aidape] as well as our deputy ministers, who co-ordinate the activities of all working groups,” said Prentice during the Devoir interview. “So in that sense, yes, it works very well.” Pressed by Buzzetti to explain how the people could know about the progress of those discussions, Prentice said, “The public report will emerge from the summit of New Orleans,” adding that a press conference following the recent working meetings [with his counterparts in Los Cabos, Mexico] is a proof that the public is being kept informed. ”However, it is rare that ministers are aware of the minutiae of these highly technical discussions,” writes Buzzetti. “Indeed, in the interview, Mr. Prentice was barely able to provide detailed information. At most, he gave the example of automobile bumpers, designed in the United States to withstand a collision at ‘five miles per hour,’ compared to ‘ten miles per hour’ in Canada. “He explained these different standards are detrimental to the flow of automotive trade on the North American market, calling it ‘the tyranny of small differences.’” According to Buzzetti, Prime Minister Harper’s communications director, Sandra Buckler, explained in an email the role of the promised committee: “This committee will report annually to the leaders, ministers and the public, thus increasing the transparency and accountability of the process.” Ms. Buckler added that the “co-ordination committee will provide interested parties [stakeholders] an opportunity to comment as the work plan is developed and made available to the public.” Buzzetti concludes her article with some exasperation: “Le ministère de l'Industrie se vante même d'avoir rendu publics ces exemples de consultation... au moyen d'une réponse écrite du gouvernement versée aux archives de la Chambre des communes. Ce processus en vertu duquel les députés peuvent poser des questions par écrit est si peu connu qu'il est à peu près impossible de retrouver les réponses fournies.” Translation: “The Minister of Industry even brags about making public other examples of ‘consultation’ such as the government’s filing of written responses deep in the House of Commons archives. This process, by which Members of Parliament can submit written questions, is so little known that it is virtually impossible to find the answers.”
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