Canada Plans Legislative Secretariat in Washington, D.C. by Larry Luxner In an unprecedented move, the Canadian government is establishing a public advocacy and legislative secretariat at the countryís huge embassy in Washington, D.C. Itís part of an effort by Prime Minister Paul Martin to further Canadaís interests in the United States and expand the $440 billion in annual trade between the two countries. ìThe government has made very clear that we are committed to improving the management and coherence of our relations with the U.S.,î Martin said during a visit to Washington. ìCanadians are best served by a more sophisticated approach to Canada-U.S. relations, which recognizes and respects the valuable role of legislators and representatives from various levels of government. The new secretariat will enhance Canadaís overall advocacy efforts in the United States, while supporting a single Canadian voice.î Few concrete details are available about the secretariat, other than that it will be located within the Canadian Embassy, will be operational in the fall, and will require the embassy to hire new diplomats to supplement its 260-member staff. Heading the new secretariat will b e Colin Robertson, currently Canadaís consul general in Los Angeles. Robertson, 49, is a native of Winnipeg and has held various government positions in his career. He will report directly to Canadian Ambassador Michael Kergin. Embassy spokesman Bernard Etzinger said the secretariat will work with Canadaís 10 provinces and three territories, as well as members of Parliament, to plan and support new lobbying activities directed at members of Congressóboth on Capitol Hill and in their home districts. As a result, provinces and territories could soon establish offices at the Canadian Embassy, starting with the energy-rich province of Alberta, which has already expressed an interest in having a presence in Washington. The secretariat will also assist traveling parliamentary committees, respond to requests by lawmakers in Ottawa, and coordinate more regular, nonpartisan briefings. ìThe very nature of our cooperation is part-foreign, part-domestic,î Etzinger explained. ìAn integrated economy demands an integrated relationship. That means more engagement by Canadians with their U.S. counterparts, so that the nature of our mutual interdependence is recognized within the U.S. political system, corporate circles and other centers of power.î An example of this, the spokesman said, is bringing together states and provinces that border the Great Lakes in order to discuss maritime and shipping issues. Likewise, the secretariat could serve as a platform for other issues of bilateral interest, such as border security, energy and environmental protection. Etzinger noted that the Canadian Embassy, which used to be located in Dupont Circle, moved in 1989 to its present location along Pennsylvania Avenue, six blocks west of the Capitol and 10 blocks east of the White House. No other embassy occupies such a prime piece of Washington real estate. ìThis symbolizes the kind of relationship Canadians have with the United States,î he said. ìItís a different country, but we feel very much at home here.î For one thing, the United States and Canada share the longest non-militarized border in the world, stretching 3,145 miles (5,061 km) on land and 2,381 miles (3,832 km) over water. More than 200 million border crossings were reported last year alone. More important, the two neighbors rank as each otherís largest trading partners. In 2003, the latest year for which complete provincial statistics are available, Canada bought 23 percent of all U.S. merchandise exportsómore than Japan, Great Britain, Germany, France and China combined. In that year, Ontario alone recorded $216.5 billion in trade with the United Statesójust over 60 percent of Canadaís $361.7 billion in bilateral trade. Other top U.S. trading partners at the provincial level were French-speaking QuÈbec ($48.8 billion), Alberta ($43.2 billion) and British Columbia ($21.7 billion). On the other side of the border, Canadaís top U.S. trading partners were Michigan ($64.7 billion), New York ($27.2 billion), California ($25.3 billion), Ohio ($25.0 billion), Illinois ($23.7 billion) and Texas ($15.6 billion). With such huge numbers, bilateral disputes are bound to come up once in a while. The biggest issues at the moment involve Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease), softwood lumber, wheat and live swine. In April, the World Trade Organization ruled that the U.S. Department of Commerce was ìinconsistent with its WTO obligationsî two years ago when it imposed an 8.43 percent anti-dumping duty on Canadian softwood lumber exports to the United States. Dumping is the sale of goods in a foreign market at prices below those charged for comparable sales in the home market, or below the cost of producing the goods. ìThere are no instant solutions to problems. If these problems were so easy to solve, we wouldnít need a diplomatic presence here,î Etzinger said. ìIssues like mad cow disease affect millions of people, so they turn to the embassy for help. What the secretariat will do is enhance our ability to relate to institutions like Congress and give us better, more direct representation of our interests.î Etzinger, originally from a small town in Ontario, has served at the Canadian Embassy for two years. Before that, he worked at the Canadian trade office in Californiaís Silicon Valley. According to the embassyís Web site, Canada has 12 consulate generals throughout the United Statesóin Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York and Seattle. In addition, it has consulates in Houston, Raleigh, San Diego and San Francisco, and trade offices in San Jose/Silicon Valley and Princeton, N.J. By the fall of 2004, Canada will have opened additional consulates in Anchorage, Philadelphia and Phoenix. Larry Luxner is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.