Legislators, representatives from non-governmental organizations and business leaders from the states, provinces and territories that form the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) worked together to address the major economic issues impacting the region at PNWER's 22nd Annual Summit, held in Saskatoon, July 15-19.
"This was a very productive summit that helped to underscore the important trade relationship that our province has with the United States," Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture and president of the PNWER Executive Committee Lyle Stewart said. "In our first opportunity to host a PNWER Annual Summit, we wanted to showcase the best of Saskatchewan and focus on issues that are important to our province. I feel that we did that."
Saskatchewan-based outcomes included the province's instrumental role in reviving the agriculture working group session, which will continue to look at ways to enhance agricultural trade through the Regulatory Co-operation Council (RCC). The New West Partnership, an economic and trade agreement signed in 2010 by Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, was successfully profiled in a working group session. Summit keynote speakers raised the importance of Canada-United States energy and agriculture relationships, while policy tours highlighted the province's world-class agriculture, innovation, manufacturing, energy, and natural resources industries.
Significant outcomes from the summit included PNWER's continued input on Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama's Beyond the Border and RCC Action Plans. Prior to the action plans' inception in December 2011, PNWER working groups had been instrumental in providing regional input for these action plans, which are the cornerstone of North America's economic competitiveness and security strategy. The joint action plans are designed to simplify the process for each country's citizens to travel and do business across the border.
Summit working groups also developed the following action plans to advance these proposed initiatives:
* Guidelines for sea and inland ports to communicate in the case of a natural disaster or other emergency so that supply chains are not disrupted and operations are able to continue.
* Aligning food safety regulations in the United States and Canada.
* A "two-nation vacation" strategy which will expedite visas for visitors abroad to both the United States and Canada.
* A "NorPass" which will allow travelers to go from Washington to British Columbia to Southeast Alaska via ferry using a single Eurorail-style pass.
* Creation of a permanent mining working group.
* An Arctic Interactive Resource Map, which will display current and potential mining resources across Alaska, Yukon and Northwest Territories.
* A Regional Innovation Visualization Tool, which will collect data on a wide range of innovation resources, from funding to research and development capabilities, and map various collaborations between individuals and organizations in the bi-national region.
* Recognition of the importance of Canadian and U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations given the integrated nature of our economies.
Major topics of discussion also included programs already under way. Delegates were briefed on progress made on the following initiates:
* A workforce mobility pilot project targeting unemployed skilled tradespeople from Oregon and Washington for opportunities in Canada.
* An electronic certification program that will make it easier for the import and export of livestock between Canada and the United States.
* The formation of a regional invasive species council, to better tackle a problem that knows no state or provincial boundaries.
Formed in 1991, PNWER is a non-partisan, public-private partnership that includes the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories in Canada; and the states of Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Montana in the United States. Saskatchewan joined PNWER in 2008.For more information, find PNWER on
Facebook, follow PNWER on Twitter
@PNWER, or go to
www.pnwer.org.
Next year's summit will be held in Anchorage, Alaska, July 14-18, 2013. For more information, go to
www.pnwer.org/2013Summit
