WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10) today commended Canada’s Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, on their collaboration on issues of border security, travel and trade between Canada and the United States. During their announcement, Secretary Napolitano and Minister Toews outlined an initiative to establish infrastructure protection plans within the two nations for sharing information and assessing and managing risks to enhance both nations’ ability to prepare for and respond to disasters.

“Our nation’s security is shared in part by our ability to work hand-in-hand with our Canadian neighbors. Today’s announcement of invigorated border security collaboration between the U.S. and Canada will ensure that our governments have the best information possible to protect its citizens,” Miller said. “The area I represent is home to critical infrastructure along the northern tier of our nation. Our two countries support and maintain transportation infrastructure, such as the Blue Water Bridge which carries the second largest number of commercial vehicles on the Northern Tier, and the CN rail tunnel which is the number one rail point of entry in the entire country. These major arteries carry millions of dollars of cross-border trade on a daily basis – any disruption would have serious economic ramifications.

“The initiatives announced will improve the process of billions of dollars in cross-border trade every day, therefore creating a stronger economic security for both nations. It is important that we strike a balance between the need to secure our nation and need to expedite the legitimate trade, travel and commerce between our two nations,” Miller concluded.

Canada’s National Strategy and Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure and the U.S. National Infrastructure Protection Plan: Aimed at enhancing infrastructure resiliency in the respective countries. The Canada-United States Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure will support implementation of these strategies in Canada and the United States and will enable both countries to more effectively address a range of cross border critical infrastructure issues.

Child Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking: DHS announced that six U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel will be deployed in the coming months to join a Canadian effort to further assist the Haitian National Police to prevent sexual exploitation of children and potential human trafficking in Haiti, complementing existing bi-national collaboration to address these issues. Following January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, which left many children orphaned and potentially vulnerable to exploitation, Royal Canadian Mounted Police victim identification specialists assisted the Haitian National Police in creating a database of these children to assist in their identification and rescue should they become exploited.

MOU on Cross Border Currency Seizure Information Sharing: Secretary Napolitano and Minister Toews announced that the Canada Border Services Agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding that will help to identify potential threats and assist in money-laundering and terrorist-financing investigations and prosecutions.

For more information, please visit the Web sites www.publicsafety.gc.ca or www.dhs.gov.

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