THE concept of the Beyond the Border plan announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday cannot be faulted on paper: better security around the joint CanadaU.S. perimeter, a greasing of security restrictions between the two countries and initiatives intended to speed the flow of cross-border trade.
However, many details remain to be worked out with many potential devils to be confronted.
The Conservatives have promised Canadians that the new agreement will protect their rights and freedoms. We look forward to being convinced. Certainly Canadians - and Americans - with spotless records will gain access to accelerated border crossings. That's good. But who will determine what is a less spotless record and what is an actual area of security concern? We're betting that U.S. paranoia will trump Canadian privacy here.
This troubling concern is one area of the agreement slated for quick action and bears close watching. A joint set of privacy and protection principles is due to be developed by May 2012 that will then guide all other initiatives in the plan. It is important that these governing principles receive public scrutiny and debate before another element of the plan takes effect next summer: the operation of law-enforcement officials from Canada and the United States on both sides of the border.
It would be anathema to most Canadians for U.S. security forces to be arresting Canadians on Canadian soil for U.S. security concerns.
