January 26th, 2012
Over the last two days, I participated — along with military, political and diplomatic leaders from the United States and Canada — in the 228th meeting of the Canada-US Permanent Joint Board on Defense. The PJBD says as much as anything about the nature of the relationship between our two countries. In a world marked by profound change, the Board is Permanent. It was formed in 1940 by the Ogdensburg Declaration, to create a body that could consider, in the broad sense, the security and defense of the northern half of the Western Hemisphere.
Each country provides a co-chair, along with a mix of military and civilian members. The Canadian co-chair Laurie Hawn, the Member of Parliament from Edmonton Centre, is my friend from our trip together to Afghanistan over Christmas in 2009. Laurie was joined by the new US co-chair, John Spratt. John is a recently retired congressman from South Carolina. During his distinguished career he was the Chair of the House Committee on the Budget, and the long time member of the Armed Services Committee. The two of them will, no doubt carry on the Board’s distinguished tradition.
The first US co-chair back in 1940 was Fiorello LaGuardia. He famously said: “My generation has failed miserably. We’ve failed because of lack of courage and vision. It requires more courage to keep the peace than to go to war.” The meeting here in Ottawa was part of our bilateral effort to display the courage and the vision necessary to keep the peace in North America and around the world. (I believe LaGuardia also invented the phrase “your plane is delayed.”)
During the course of the meeting, we signed three agreements that will contribute to the safety and security of our citizens on both sides of the border. The first was the Civil Assistance Plan (CAP), which is a plan for Northern Command in the U.S. and Canada Command to provide support to civil authorities in the event of a disaster in either country. The second is the Combined Defense Plan (CDP), which gives guidance to our militaries on how to defend North America. The third is a Memorandum of Understanding that will allow us to share information more readily.
Among the attendees at the meeting was the Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, Marc Grégoire. Commissioner Grégoire is leading the Coast Guard during an exceptionally exciting time. In addition to their daily duties of search and rescue, maritime safety and security, icebreaking and maintaining navigation aids, today, January 26, 2012, marks the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Coast Guard.
Commissioner Grégoire indicated this would be commemorated on the newly released Canadian 50 dollar bill. The Canadian Coast Guard is part of Canada’s National Shipbuilding and Procurement Strategy and, as part of that project, design work has begun on a new state-of-the-art polar icebreaker.
I’d like to join the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Admiral Bob Papp, who was also at the meeting, in congratulating the Canadian Coast Guard for 50 years of service to Canada, humanity and the environment and to offer my thanks for being such a valued and critical maritime partner of the United States.
DJ
Tags: Canadian Coast Guard, Defense, John Spratt, Laurie Hawn, Permanent Joint Board on Defense, Security
Posted in January 2012 |
January 17th, 2012
This morning I had the honor of attending the award of the United States Legion of Merit to Canadian Lieutenant-General Charlie Bouchard. Admiral Sam Locklear the Commander of US Naval forces in Europe and the NATO Commander of the Allied Joint Forces in Naples traveled from Italy to make the presentation in recognition of the Lt General Bouchard’s valiant leadership of Operation Unified Protector in Libya.
Admiral Samuel J. Locklear, III, presents the U.S. Legion of Merit award to Lieutenant-General Joseph Jacques Charles Bouchard for exceptionally meritorious service as Deputy Commander, Allied Joint Force Command, Naples and Commander, Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR, from October 2009 to December 2011
The United States Legion of Merit is special. It is one of the highest honors my country can bestow upon a foreign soldier. It is given very rarely and only for “exceptionally meritorious service.” Among the recipients have been Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, Charles DeGaulle, King George VI, George Vanier, and Ehud Barack.
Canadians should feel rightly proud of the service of General Bouchard in the Libya campaign. He has brought credit to himself, his family, and to his country.
DJ
Tags: Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, United States Legion of Merit award
Posted in January 2012 |
January 14th, 2012
Yesterday I attended the Ottawa premiere of “The Price of Sex”, a documentary film by renowned photojournalist Mimi Chakarova. In the film Chakarova, who was born in Bulgaria and emigrated to the United States in 1989 after the fall of Communism, documents the horrors of sex slavery in her former homeland and other countries in Eastern Europe. After earning the trust of victims over the course of many years, she was allowed to film several of the girls and young women affected by human trafficking as they recounted their heartbreaking and horrifying firsthand accounts. She also put herself into incredible danger by going undercover into the sex clubs where the women were being exploited. For this work, she was awarded Human Rights Watch’s 2011 Nestor Almendros Award for Courage in Filmmaking.
Hundreds of thousands of young women have been tricked into sex slavery. Many of them are single mothers, trying to support their families, and they jump at the promise of decent jobs elsewhere doing work such as waitressing or factory work. In fact, they become a commodity in the same illicit market that includes trafficking of narcotics and arms and they are treated with unbearable cruelty and indifference.
It is almost inconceivable to me that human beings could treat others with a level of cruelty that, were they to treat a dog like this, would land them in jail in the United States or Canada. The film opened my eyes to the scope and scorching pain of the human trafficking problem. While it is difficult to watch – you should see it. Ask your local library to obtain a copy of the film, or go to www.priceofsex.org to view an extensive multi-media presentation of her work. The best weapon against this blight is awareness.
Filmmaker Mimi Chakarova speaks at Ottawa screening of "The Price of Sex".
Afterward there was a lively Q & A session with Chakarova. Julie and I then joined her for dinner, along with representatives of organizations in Canada and the United States including Human Rights Watch and Equal Voice as well as some of the people in the U.S. Embassy who work every day at combating human trafficking. We were able to continue the discussion about various aspects of the sex trade and possible solutions.
The President and Secretary Clinton have both forcefully condemned human trafficking as modern-day slavery and made its eradication a high priority. I’m glad that our Embassy was able to contribute to the very important effort to educate and inform the public about this issue.
DJ
Tags: Human Trafficking, Mimi Chakarova, The Price of Sex
Posted in January 2012 |
January 4th, 2012
Yesterday the citizens of Iowa (my wife’s home state) kicked off a series of primaries and caucuses that culminate with the general election on November 6. Voting is one of our most important rights. Every American citizen retains that right even if they are not in the United States on election day. And one of our most important responsibilities at the U.S. Mission in Canada is to assist U.S. citizens to exercise that right to vote in U.S. elections. If you’re not sure where to start, we are here to help you with the process.
If you plan to vote by absentee ballot in the 2012 elections, now is the time to get started. Although voting through absentee ballots may not be new to many Americans living in Canada, I want to make sure you know that for 2012 there has been a change to the process. Starting this year, all overseas voters who want to cast an absentee ballot are required to submit a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) each year. This includes citizens registering to vote for the first time as well as those who have submitted absentee ballots in the past.
Technology is making the voting process easier for Americans overseas. 
Through the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) http://www.fvap.gov, you can ask your local election officials to provide blank ballots to you electronically and you can confirm your registration and ballot delivery online. If you’ve never registered to vote or you aren’t sure in which state you should register, FVAP can also help with that. And if you can’t find your answer there, we will help you, just contact the Embassy or nearest U.S. Consulate for information and assistance. http://canada.usembassy.gov/consulates.html
Please take a moment to download and fill out an FPCA at https://www.fvap.gov/r3/privacyactnotice. Some states allow you to submit the FPCA online; otherwise you can mail the FPCA yourself or drop by the Embassy or nearest Consulate to give your form to a consular officer who will forward the FPCA in the pre-paid envelope to the appropriate office. http://canada.usembassy.gov/consulates.html
As the President has observed, every Election Day underscores the strength and resilience of American democracy. Regardless of the outcome, power in the United States rests with the people. That is at the core of our system of representative and accountable government.
I will be voting in the Illinois primary and in the General Election. Our consular staff in the Embassy and Consulates General across Canada will do everything we can to ensure American citizens in Canada have the information they need to cast their votes.
Please join me in this civic responsibility.
DJ
Tags: absentee ballot, Election, Election 2012, Federal Voting Assistance Program, FPCA, FVAP, Iowa, overseas ballot, U.S. Mission Canada, Vote
Posted in January 2012 |
January 3rd, 2012
Guest Blogger: Julie Jacobson
Next Tuesday, the Embassy will partner with Human Rights Watch, Equal Voice and the Nobel Women’s Initiative for an important awareness event about human trafficking. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Mimi Chakarova will be in Ottawa to present her harrowing documentary “The Price of Sex.”
Bulgarian-born Chakarova and her family immigrated to the United States in 1990 following the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. The film follows her return to her home a decade later and her discovery that new opportunities in the West left many of the old communities impoverished and without hope. One tragic consequence was that hundreds of thousands of young women left their homes to follow a dream of economic security for their families, only to find that they had been tricked into a nightmare of sexual slavery with no hope of escape.
In the documentary, Chakarova follows the trail of these “disappeared women,” forming relationships with several over a period of years. She elicits their heartbreaking stories; even taking the extraordinary risk of going undercover in the sex clubs.
“The Price of Sex” has been shown around the world to critical acclaim and has received the Nestor Almendros Award for Courage in Filmmaking. It casts a desperately needed spotlight on this worldwide crisis. I’m proud, as an American, that my country has taken a leading role in trying to stop this cruelty. Secretary of State Clinton has called it a modern form of slavery, and an affront to our values. I couldn’t agree more.
The film is open to the public free of charge at The Library and Archives of Canada, 395 Wellington Street, at 2:00 pm on Tuesday January 10. Following the screening, Mimi will answer questions from the audience.
To attend, please send an RSVP email to cultural@state.gov
Julie Jacobson
Tags: Equal Voice, Human Rights Watch, Human Trafficking, Mimi Chakarova, Nobel Women's Initiative, sex trafficking, The Price of Sex, women
Posted in January 2012 |
December 21st, 2011
As Julie and I approach our third holiday season in Ottawa (and our third Christmas tree as our loyal readers will remember) we want to take a moment to send season’s greetings to our Embassy family and to our friends across Canada, the United States, and around the world.
This is the time when all of us reflect on the events of the past year. It has been a great year for the relationship between our two countries. We are honored to have had a role in that effort. It has also been a great year for our family. We love it here. We continue to travel throughout Canada. We continue to make so many great friends.
On behalf of President Obama and the American people, we want to wish all of you a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and a happy, healthy, and peaceful new year.
David and Julie
Happy Holidays
Tags: Canada, Holidays, Ottawa, President Obama, U.S. Embassy Ottawa, United States of America
Posted in December 2011 |
December 20th, 2011
Monday of last week was my first day back in the office after the announcement by the President and the Prime Minister of the Action Plans for Beyond the Border and the Regulatory Cooperation Council. (I left Washington on Wednesday night and spent Thursday and Friday in Toronto with the press — which is probably worth its own blog.)
One of the things we promised in the action plans is to consult, both formally and informally, with interested stakeholders to get their input on what is in the plans and on our progress in implementing them.
We started last week. The two architects of Beyond the Border and Regulatory Cooperation on the Canadian side, Simon Kennedy and Bob Hamilton, and I had a chance to meet with about 30 members of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce at a lunch arranged by Perrin Beatty, the CEO of the Chamber.
We received a great deal of useful feedback. I also found it interesting that Simon, Bob and I all expressed the same view to the group. What we did last Wednesday was to announce plans. While we believe they are excellent roadmaps to lead us to where the Prime Minister and the President want us to go — more trade, thinner borders and a more secure North America — we will only achieve those goals if we get to work and execute. Each of us encouraged the members of the Chamber — and all other interested stakeholders in Canada and the United States — to hold us accountable for results and to hold our feet to the fire in the coming months and years.
In addition to informal events like our lunch last week, we also have more formal processes for collecting input. On the U.S. side, we published a Federal Register Notice on the process inviting interested parties to comment on the Beyond the Border Action Plan. You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-2011-0115, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal, by email (BeyondtheBorder@hq.dhs.gov), or by mail (Beyond the Border Coordinator, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Mailstop 0455, Washington, DC 20016).
The U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council is planning to hold the first RCC Meeting, with stakeholders from both sides of the border, in late January in Washington D.C. The individual RCC working groups will also hold stakeholder meetings to seek input as they draft their work plans.
Tags: Beyond the Border, BTB, input, RCC, Regulatory Cooperation Council
Posted in December 2011 |
December 15th, 2011
With the holiday season fast approaching, I know that many of us are finalizing our end of year travel plans. For the snowbirds among us, travelling can mean getting away to Mexico or the Caribbean as we seek to escape the cold. For others, travelling can mean heading to Europe, Asia, or pretty much anywhere else in the world, including travelling inside Canada. Many of us will also be travelling from the U.S. to Canada this year. While we often look back at this part of the year with fond memories of time well spent with loved ones reconnecting with our cultural roots and traditions, some among us are brought back to a time when lost passports, misplaced wallets, and missed flights have resulted in unsettling and unpleasant flashbacks of misery and discomfort.
As the American Ambassador in Canada, I have no more important responsibility than the welfare of American citizens living in and travelling to Canada. Realizing that there are about a million dual U.S.-Canadian citizens in Canada, and many other Americans who frequently travel to Canada, I strongly encourage all Americans expecting to travel this winter to sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). If you enroll in STEP the data you choose to provide will help us best assist you in the event that misfortune strikes.
Through STEP, you can access information about the country where you will be traveling as well as information about Canada. You can also receive updates, including Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and other important information regarding your plans.
When I think of STEP, I’m reminded of a French comedy called “Lost in Transit.” In the movie, a traveler who has lost his passport gets stuck at a Paris airport without any assistance from his government and with no way to contact his friends or family for help. Over the course of the movie he runs into other travelers in the same helpless state looking for a way out of their predicament. I don’t want to spoil the movie for you, but I do want you to know that if those travelers had been American Citizens enrolled with STEP, their troubles could have been greatly eased or even avoided because their embassy or consulate would have been fully prepared to help with obtaining new passports, contacting relatives, or simply being a friendly face in an unfamiliar place.
While I’m comforted by the knowledge that millions of Americans travel abroad every year and encounter no difficulties, I’m also aware of the fact that embassies and consulates assist nearly 200,000 Americans each year who are victims of crime, accident, or illness, or whose family and friends need to contact them in an emergency.
So, if you’re planning on travelling to visit family, explore ancient Mayan ruins, scuba dive the Caribbean, or just get away this year, I strongly encourage you to enroll in STEP. Our friendly and discreet consular officers are there to help you when you need them, so please, put down your travel guide and map for a few minutes and take the time to sign up. Enrolling in STEP could turn out to be the most valuable time you spend during your travel planning this year.
Tags: American Citizen, Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, Passport, Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, Snowbird, STEP, Travel
Posted in December 2011 |
December 13th, 2011
By Guest Blogger Farah Pandith
No matter where in the world we are, people mark happy occasions with sweets. My first official visit to Canada began the same way, when my driver dashed into Ottawa’s Moulin de Provence café in the ByWard Market and returned with an “Obama Cookie”: a shortbread maple leaf cookie covered in swirls of red icing with “Canada” written boldly across it.
Farah Pandith speaks at a public event at the University of Ottawa
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton created the position of Special Representative to Muslim Communities following President Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo. My job is global: find areas of common interest and build long-term relationships, people-to-people and within civil society, particularly with young, vibrant, connected, active “digital natives”. Coming to Canada was a wonderful opportunity to meet outstanding young people, and to hear first-hand the experience of Canadian Muslims, and the issues front and center in their lives.
Farah Pandith with University of Ottawa students at the Association of Progressive Muslims of Canada Eid Dinner
They spoke, and I heard. I was energized by my conversation with Carleton students about how issues of race, gender, and religion have changed in the world after 9/11. Students at University of Ottawa evoked their concerns about media portrayal of Islam. Participants in a video conference with Ottawa, Québec City, Calgary, Winnipeg and Vancouver asked how we can educate Muslims and non-Muslims about each other. A student at Ridgewood High School wanted to know how Muslims in America and Canada differ. I was honored to Keynote the Eid Dinner of the Association of Progressive Muslims of Canada, and celebrate their efforts to open doors to dialogue and understanding. Throughout my visit I heard many welcome America’s greater efforts to listen to Muslim voices and respect the diversity of Muslim experiences around the world.
Farah Pandith and Ann Taillon, Vice Principal of Ridgemont High School in Ottawa
Several students I met have already sent me Twitter messages, asking questions and sharing ideas. I welcome staying in touch via Facebook (www.facebook.com/fpandith) or Twitter (@Farah_Pandith).
There was no better day than UN World Tolerance Day to share the 2011 Hours Against Hate campaign www.facebook.com/2011HoursAgainstHate.com, launched jointly with my colleague Hannah Rosenthal, the U.S. Envoy to Combat and Monitor Anti-Semitism. This action-oriented awareness campaign asks people to pledge time for someone who doesn’t look like them, pray like them, or live like them. I hope you’ll check it out and join us!
Farah Pandith and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer at the Eid Dinner
I departed Canada, headed for Thanksgiving with my family in New England, with certainly one more thing to be thankful for: my great experience in Canada and the warm welcome that I received. Thank you!
Farah Pandith
State Department Special Representative to Muslim Communities
Tags: 2011 Hours Against Hate, Association of Progressive Muslims of Canada, Canada, Carleton University, Farah Pandith, Islam, Muslim, Ottawa, Ridgewood High School, Secretary Clinton, University of Ottawa
Posted in December 2011 |
December 7th, 2011
I have just come from the Oval Office, where President Obama and Prime Minister Harper took our relationship to the next level as they announced the Action Plans for Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness.
The United States and Canada have long been the best of neighbors, friends, partners, and allies. Based on foundations of mutual reliance and respect we have built prosperity at home while standing shoulder-to-shoulder defending our shared values around the world. We have long understood that if we work together we are stronger, more prosperous, and more competitive.
President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrive to speak in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011
Building on that spirit, in February we set forth a plan for the future of North America. We committed to a shared vision for perimeter security and economic competitiveness. We agreed to work together within, at, and away from our borders to enhance our security, better coordinate our regulatory systems, and accelerate the legitimate flow of people, goods and services. We rejected the false choice between security and efficiency at the border. We realized that by improving the efficiency of the border in smart ways we would enhance the security of North America while lifting the standard of living of our people. We promised to consult with our citizens and to deliver a detailed Action Plan to realize our vision. Today we deliver on that promise.
In 1961, President Kennedy had the opportunity to address the Canadian Parliament. He famously said: “what unites us is far greater than what divides us.” With the actions we take today between our two great countries that statement was never more true.
I invite you to read all about the action plans and what they involve here. We’ve posted all the documents and fact sheets from the United States Government and I’m writing to invite you to learn as much as you can about the plan and what it involves. I invite your comments here and welcome your suggestions and support.
DJ
Tags: Beyond the Border, Border, Canada, economy, Perimeter, President Obama, Prime Minister Harper, Security, U.S.-Canada relations, White House
Posted in December 2011 |
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