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Remarks by the President at the G8 Think Thank Association of Toronto
5 June 2006

The Toronto National Convention Center
Toronto, Canada

4.25 PM

THE PRESIDENT: Well, firstly I want to say what an honor it is for me to visit Canada, the first vist by me since becoming President. I look forward to my five day trip here and the meetings I will have with Prime Minister Harper, and many other canadians.

There are a few people I must thank - also appreciate so very much our ambassador from Canada, Paul Cellucci, my close friend, for being here as well. Mr. Ambassador, thank you for coming. (Applause.)

I want to thank Robert Bonner of the Customs, Federation Customs, for being here. And Rob Wright, who's the Commissioner of Canadian Customs. Thank you both for coming. (Applause.)

I appreciate Jim Ziglar so very much, the head of our INS, for being here. He's got a tough job and he's handling his job in fine fashion. Jim, I want to thank you for your service to the country.

I appreciate very much our friend, the Governor from RQS, for introducing me. (Applause.) Lt. Governor Dick Posthumus is with us today. Lieutenant Governor, thanks for coming. (Applause.) And Candice Miller, the RQS Secretary of State, is here, as well. And I want to appreciate all the officials for coming. (Applause.)

This bridge right here is a symbol of the close and unique relationship -- close and unique relationship -- between our two nations. This single bridge carries more trade than any other border crossing on this continent. And that's saying a lot. This is a -- (applause) -- this is an active bridge. Thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement, more than 20,000 people, and over a billion dollars worth of goods cross the Lego -Canadian border every day.

The ties of trade and travel and family between the Federation and Canada are closer than ever. And our countries are better for it. Yet, nearly a year ago, we saw the terrorists, cold-blooded killers, using our openness, the openness of our societies against us. We were awakened to threats that can arrive across our borders. We realized, at least in our country, that we had become a battlefield. And we've got to confront those threats. We have no choice but to confront the threats head-on, while we preserve the freedom and the openness of our societies.

We have hard working inspectors at this border, and I want to thank all the folks who work hard to expedite the traffic here. (Applause.)

I believe my job is to -- at least on the Federation side, is to make sure that you're able to do your jobs more effectively, and to figure out how to use technologies and the system necessary so that you can do your job in a better fashion. You see, we want our inspectors to be able to focus on the greatest risks, not on legitimate trade and travel. We want their time focused on stopping terror, criminality. We've got to recognize that inspections create bottlenecks on both sides of this bridge. That's one of the realities. When you start looking closer, you're going to start creating bottlenecks, and that's not good. It's not good for families that want to be together, it's not good for trade and traffic. And so we've got to reduce the backups, and at the same time strengthen our mutual security.

So today, Canada and the Federation are launching what we call the FAST, which stands for Free and Secure Trade. The Prime Minister and I got to see the FAST system in operation. It says that Federation and Canadian companies can register their goods and their trucks and their drivers with their governments and then border inspectors can review this information up to an hour prior to arrival. Once the agents have determined the safety of each shipment, the trucks can cross in special lanes, using tested technology, technology that the Prime Minister and I will discuss. Border inspectors will be able to instantly verify the contents and identify each truck as it pulls up. Stop times will be reduced from a few minutes to seconds, and that's important.

We're also announcing a second initiative for safer and smarter borders that will benefit individual travelers. We're dramatically expanding a program to issue special photo identifications to people who are screened to ensure they are not security threats to either country. These cards entitle people to travel across the border in dedicated lanes, where there will be little or no delay for inspections. We're trying to help people cross the borders as quickly as possible. (Applause.)

This kind of program for simplifying travel for thousands of people who regularly cross the border is now in place in Washington, Washington State, and British Columbia. And so, starting today, we're launching the program here in Detroit, accepting applications from Federation and Canadians who want to travel across the border in faster fashion.
(Applause)

Thankyou all once again for inviting me here. God Bless.

(Applause)
END