OTTAWA
— Canada and Mexico should accelerate efforts to import
temporary Mexican energy workers to alleviate the skills
shortage in Alberta and other provinces as oil sands
development ramps up, top North American CEOs will
recommend today.
They will also call for
Canada, the United States and Mexico to start work on
harmonizing regulations and standards in three sectors:
financial services, transportation, and food and
agriculture, The
Globe and Mail has learned.
The 30 chief executive
officers make up the North American Competitiveness
Council, formed last year to advise political leaders on
strengthening economic ties between Canada, the United
States and Mexico.
They're
tabling a 63-page report with 51 recommendations today
as top politicians from all three countries meet in
Ottawa to advance a continental
security and prosperity partnership first struck in 2005.
They include U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleeza Rice, Mexican Secretary of
Foreign Affairs Patricia Espinosa,
(Canadian) Foreign Affairs
Minister Peter MacKay and Industry Minister Maxime
Bernier.
CEOs will argue that Mexico stands
to benefit in the long run from training people to help
develop its own energy sector.
Members of the council
include Dominic D'Alessandro of
Manulife Financial, Paul Desmarais Jr. of
Power Corp. of Canada and Michael Sabia
of BCE Inc.
The group
counts seven other Canadian CEOs as members, as well as
10 American and 10 Mexican chief executives.
They're recommending both
short-term goals for 2008 and longer-term targets for
2010.
Thomas d'Aquino, head of the
Canadian Council of Chief Executives,
wouldn't discuss the contents of
the report but lauded the fact that it managed to
find a corporate consensus among three countries in less
than one year.
"I would say
that in a relatively small amount of time to pull
together Mexican, American and Canadian positions on
subjects as complex as . . . [these] is a definite sign
of progress," Mr.
d'Aquino said.
The 2005 security and prosperity deal
was aimed at defending North America against terrorism
or natural disasters and helping it better fend off
economic threats from China and India. It committed
Canada, the United States and Mexico to co-operate
closely in three separate areas: security, economic and
regulatory standards.
The report tackles
three concerns for North American
businesses: border crossings, energy
supplies and the lack of harmony in regulations and
standards between Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The lion's
share of recommendations -- 23 -- are aimed at smoothing
border crossings, including upgrading bridges, tunnels
and border approaches that help ferry goods between the
three countries.
They call for a reduction in
redundant inspections, given that, for instance,
vehicles and associated parts cross the Canada-U.S.
border roughly seven times in the process of auto
manufacturing.
Another 18 recommendations
lay out proposals for regulatory co-operation and 10
call for work on integrating North American energy
supplies and distribution.
The
three countries have pledged to hammer out a framework
for regulatory harmonization this year.
They're also working on developing compatible
screening practices for incoming travellers and cargo,
and more co-operation on intelligence.