Considering one of the topics that President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could discuss during the Canadian leader’s visit to Washington, D.C., later this week, it would be appropriate if Thursday’s state dinner menu featured Columbia River salmon and wine from a Columbia Valley vineyard.
Washington state Congressional leaders are hopeful that the meeting of the two leaders — the first state visit by a Canadian prime minister in two decades — will provide a push to two initiatives important to the state and the Pacific Northwest, as was reported this weekend by McClatchy News Service’s Rob Hotakainen.
One is an effort to establish additional facilities in Canada at airports, rail stations and marine ports that would allow preclearance of travelers into the U.S. before crossing the border to speed up travel and commerce between the two countries.
Legislation introduced last week by Democratic Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Washington, would make necessary provisions by the U.S. for its part in an earlier agreement on the preclearance facilities. The Promoting Travel, Commerce and National Security Act would improve mobility, enhance security and promote the economy across the border, which represents more than $225 billion in annual trade and supports 223,300 jobs, the lawmakers said in a release.
The second subject seeks the start of substantiative negotiations between the U.S. and Canada to modernize the more-than-50-year-old Columbia River Treaty that addresses the power from hydroelectric dams and flood control on the 1,243-mile long river shared by both countries.
The treaty, which either country can end after 2024 with 10 years notice, isn’t in danger of expiring soon, but it needs to be updated to expand its scope. Signed by President Eisenhower in 1961, the agreement established responsibilities for flood control and compensation for hydroelectric power. But the treaty made no provision for the environmental concerns we now face from climate change and the loss of snowpack and their resulting effects on salmon stocks. The current treaty only recognizes the needs of electricity and flood control, ignoring the river’s importance to salmon and farmers and growers who rely on its waters.
Environmental, tribal and recreational groups have been pushing for the two countries to renew and modernize the treaty. Last summer the State Department said it was its intention to add “ecosystem function” to its negotiation position in addition to hydropower and flood control issues.
With Trudeau’s defeat of Conservative leader Stephen Harper, who served as Canadian prime minister since before Obama took office, Obama now has a leader in Ottawa who is likely more closely aligned with him on issues related to climate change.
While Obama has less than a year left in office, he now has a like-minded partner north of the border. There is ample time for his administration and Trudeau’s to complete substantial work toward an accord on the Columbia River that serves both countries, their interests and the river the two countries share.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
