Morning News Wrap: "Cyber-NORAD," CAN-U.S. Border and Generic Drugs, Toronto’s Mayor Wins Stay, U.S. Loses Out at WTO, Canada’s Provinces Steal the Show, and More

By Keith Edmund White, Editor-in-Chief

Woodrow Wilson Center’s Canada Institute Talks NORAD and Cyber-Security @ 1 PM.  Cyber-security and protecting critical infrastructure are big (and irksome) issues facing both Canada and the United States.  You can watch the event here.

From WWC: 

Experts expect that cyber attacks from hostile nations and rogue actors will represent one of the most dangerous threats to Canada and the United States in the coming decades. The perils are numerous and the consequences are severe for such an attack. However, there are many measures that both nations can take, individually and collectively, to ensure peace and prosperity, free from the threat of a "cyber Pearl Harbor" disaster. The Canada Institute is pleased to host a distinguished panel to discuss these threats as well as the most effective measures and best practices that the private and public sector actors can use to make both countries more secure. The panel will discuss many issues including: the vulnerability of our linked supply chain system, the role of the private sector in enhancing the national security of the United States and Canada, policy options for creating a better information sharing process while respecting privacy rights, threats to energy production in Canada, and the possibility of creating a “cyber-NORAD” to help deal with our shared threats in the most efficient way possible.

Provincial Politics Take Center Stage.  The Globe and Mail offers an excellent province-by-province political round-up piece.  (Note to self:  copy G&M.).  In short:  Alberta—character politics are beating out attempts for Alberta’s Conservatives to push a national energy policy; British Columbia—the NDP seems on course to capture to provincial parliament; Quebec—between the Charbonneau corruption commission and the PQ’s PR blunders (they tired to remove the Maple Leaf from Quebec’s parliamentary building!), the great fear a of a resurgent PQ and separation anxiety has been allayed.    

Generic Drugs Crashes Canada-U.S. Border Policy Competing Economic, Security, and Public Health Demands.   Prescription Drugs + Border Security + Generics + Health Advocates = Border Policy Nightmare.  From WSJ: 

The White House has alerted police and border agents to prepare for a possible influx of addictive pain drugs from Canada, where cheaper, generic versions of OxyContin will soon become available. U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske also called Canada's health minister last week to discuss the issue and offer assistance to address the wave of prescription-drug abuse sweeping both countries, Mr. Kerlikowske's office said. In an alert to law-enforcement agencies sent Tuesday, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy warned law enforcement to be on the lookout for cheap copies of OxyContin, which it said could hit the market as soon as next month.

Will Toronto’s Mayor Be Out Next Week, Or Live to Appeal in Office?  Globe and Mail offers real-time court updates.  Update:  Rob Ford won a temporary stay, and will stay in office while his conflict-of-interest case is appealed.

America Given Deadline to Comply With WTO Country-of-Origin Meat-Labeling Rules.  The ever-fast wheels of international trade justice!  Having lost on an meat-labeling case to Canada and Mexico in June, the United States has been given a May 2013 compliance deadline.  The Kansas City Star reports on progressive unease with the WTO tinkering with U.S. labeling requirements: 

“Consumers in the U.S. have been clear: They want dolphin-safe tuna, and if we’re not able to label tuna in the way we want to label it, I think U.S. consumers are going to be pretty angry,” said Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington state, who likened the situation to having replacement referees decide the outcome of games in the National Football League.In the most recent development, Larsen and 21 other members of Congress sent a letter last month to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, complaining that the WTO is threatening to turn back the clock to the days when tens of thousands of dolphins were killed each year "in a tuna fishing free-for-all." Critics say the WTO is running roughshod over U.S. laws that govern everything from the environment to food safety and public health.

Joan Crockatt Gets the Hill Times Treatment.  And in a nice ‘slice of life’ piece at The Hill Times, Bea Vongdouangchanh writes on one of Parliament's newest members:  Joan Crockatt.

From The Hill Times: 

Prior to getting elected, Ms. Crockatt was an outspoken pundit who appeared on several political TV panels. Mr. Martin said he hopes the PMO, known for its tight message control, will allow her to continue to be a spokesperson on several issue.  “She’ll be as scripted as any of them [Conservative MPs], I’m sure, but Joan sometimes does freelance a little bit in her commentaries and that’s always a good thing. I hope they make her into a bit of a media presence because she does do good television. But if she takes one misstep, they’ll take her off the tube and never put her back on,” he said, adding that Ms. Crockatt does give a good first impression as an MP. “She’s always walked to her own beat type of thing and suddenly becoming shoe-horned into a borg-like group think is something that’s going to be a new experience for her.” Meanwhile, both the Liberal and Green parties increased their vote share in the byelection in Calgary Centre. The Liberals increased by 15.4 percentage points and Green candidate, Chris Turner, by 14.7 percentage points from 2011 election results. That increase came at the NDP’s expense, with Dan Meades losing 11 percentages points from 2011.

The Toronto Star tells Canada to look to the United States on climate policy.  From the op-ed: 

In other words, nearly three-quarters of U.S. gains will come from tougher regulation to curb emissions, “green” government procurement, grants and loans to promote renewable electricity, and fuel conservation in vehicles and buildings. Pollution taxes, higher oil pricing and emission trading systems will also have an impact. The implications for Canada, and Ontario, are obvious. The Canadian Council of Chief Executives has called for a coherent federal climate policy, including “a clear, nationally consistent carbon price” across the economy. And the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy has urged more investment in low-carbon innovation, a major growth sector.
Until now the Harper government has adopted a wait-and-see-what-the-U.S.-does attitude, repudiated the Kyoto Protocol as too costly, and failed to come up with a credible plan to make the painful adjustments that will be necessary to develop the oil and gas sector in a more balanced and sustainable fashion, mitigating emissions. As things stand there’s no federal constraint on oilsands pollution, Pembina argues. Now Ontario, too, is falling short. The Americans don’t have all the answers. They remain huge polluters. But they are bending the curve in a better direction. We should aim to do no less.

Friday Morning News Wrap

By Keith Edmund White, Editor-in-Chief 

Liberals Can’t ‘Centerize’ Themselves To Victory. Paul Wells at Maclean’s gives some sober advice to a Canadian Liberal Party still on the ropes: 

In fact, if the country’s assorted Liberal parties are in the mood for advice from the “department of easier said than done,” they should waste no more time seeking to present themselves as the middle ground between extremes. Instead they should find some extreme worth defending. What social end is so important that it’s worth taxing to achieve? What fights are worth fighting?

The decline of Liberal parties in Canada produces a kind of optical illusion. The centre isn’t disappearing, it is becoming crowded. Nothing about the Liberal name ensures the endurance of Liberal parties. Loyalty will not save them. Wit and heart will, or nothing will.

Two First Nations Tribes Territorial Dispute May Delay Major Canadian Wind-Energy Project.  The Anishinabek and Batchewana tribes are arguing over their territorial lines, which were set by the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850. At risk: the 36-turbine, 80 km/~50 mile Bow Lake Wind Farm Project. Check out The Globe and Mail’s report.

Cyber Espionage Part of Doing Energy Business in China? TheStar.com reports on increased Canadian cybersecurity spending, but notes the skepticism of Queen’s University cyber-security expert David Skillicorn. And iPolitics.com reports on espionage as part of doing business in China: 

There are plenty of anecdotal examples of cyberespionage in the energy sector and some consider it part of the business.  

“One of the companies we deal with makes power plants,” said a source familiar with the Canadian energy sector. “They built a power plant in China and all the intellectual property was stolen.”

CNOOC-Nexen Deal In the Greater Canada-China Economic Context.  Conventional wisdom says that the CNOOC-Nexen deal will be approved. But the real story, at least according to Asia Pacific Foundation President and CEO Yuen Pau Woo, is what strings Canada puts on future Chinese acquisitions of Canadian companies. What I find surprising? Woo’s advocacy for ‘smart’ state economic planning in Canada. From The Globe and Mail: 

An opportunity was missed a few years ago when there was a bidding war for Inco. At the end of a convoluted series of offers and counteroffers, two bidders were left standing – Vale of Brazil and Teck Resources of Vancouver. Vale was the much bigger player, and Teck’s offer came as a surprise. Since the acquisition was subject to government review, Ottawa had a chance to weigh in. Support for Teck would have resulted in a much enlarged Canadian company ranking in the top five of global mining giants.

But Vale prevailed, and another Canadian icon went into foreign hands. To be sure, Teck is Canada’s largest diversified mining company and still a global player, but an opportunity for a “national champion” to enter the top tier of mining companies was missed.

The point of this example is not to bemoan foreign ownership but to bring clarity to the goal of building national champions. Blocking foreign investment in and of itself won’t create globally significant Canadian companies. By the same token, a purely hands-off approach to market transactions is no guarantee of success. If this sounds complicated, it’s because economic statecraft is complicated. Beware of those who would boil it down to just a few easy rules. 

Detroit-Windsor Crossing: Harper’s Hard Press & Michigan’s Messy Ballot Battle. The Harper government, in their proposed 2013 budget, is exempting a second-planned bridge crossing between Windsor and Detroit from environmental review. We’ll see if that sticks, or if the NDP or Liberals can make political hay out of it. But, perhaps more importantly, Michigan voters may decide the pace any new international crossing is made—and it’s bringing out colorful local politics. The owner of the Ambassador Bridge, Manuel ‘Matty’ Moroun, is pushing Proposal 6, which—if passed—could create legal hurdles for the planned construction of the Detroit River International Crossing Project. And he seems happy to deal for votes from both ends of the political spectrum.  Will an international bridge crossing be tangled by an unlikely coalition of ballot voters this November?  And how is this issue, unlike the Keystone XL pipeline, not getting any national political attention?  From The Windsor Star:

Critics say Moroun already has a deal in play with the group Americans For Prosperity, buying the group’s support on Proposal 6 by bankrolling its campaign on Proposal 5 — a ballot initiative to limit taxes.

Last week, the Detroit Free Press reported on Moroun bartering with the United Auto Workers for the union’s support on Proposal 6 in exchange for Moroun financially backing Proposal 2 — the union’s ballot initiative on collective bargaining.

Reportedly under pressure, UAW leadership backed away from the deal, with union president Bob King saying the UAW would remain neutral on Proposal 6. 

The UAW’s recent hints of support for Proposal 6 were made all the more embarrassing by the revelation that earlier this summer, King wrote a letter to the U.S. federal government extolling the benefits of a new bridge crossing.