Creating a Southeast U.S.-Canada association and achieving efficient border crossings between Canada and the United States would further expand trade between Georgia and Canada, said the country’s ambassador, Michael Wilson, who visited Atlanta in February.

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Video interview with Michael Wilson

Mr. Wilson, who was appointed ambassador to the U.S. last March, met with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Economic Development Commissioner Ken Stewart, Canadian Consul General Brian Oak and other officials and spoke at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta during his first official visit here Feb. 5-7.

He told GlobalAtlanta during an interview at the Canadian Consulate General that he was interested in the formation of an association of Southeast U.S. and Canadian provincial governors that would meet annually to discuss issues of mutual importance.

Governors of Southeast states, including Mr. Perdue, are to meet with Canadian provincial governors from Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec at the end of February to further plans for the association. Other topics of discussion will be the new U.S. passport requirements, as well as two-way trade, Mr. Wilson said.

Since last month, U.S. residents traveling by air to or from Canada are required to carry a U.S. passport, and sea and land travelers will be required to use a passport as early as Jan. 1, 2008.

Mr. Wilson said he agrees with strong enforcement of security along North American borders, but such measures should not obstruct trade. The “thickening of borders” between Canada and the U.S. is a growing impediment to trade, he said.

“Free trade agreements were designed to decrease barriers for goods, services, investment capital and, to some extent, people. But now, non-tariff barriers in the form of regulatory fees and unnecessary inspections are costing time and money,” Mr. Wilson said of inefficient border management that slows down the movement of cargo trucks.

“Every minute lost [crossing the border] is cost,” he said.

Efficient borders would aid the effectiveness of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but a hemisphere-wide free trade agreement is not possible at this time, Mr. Wilson added. Instead of a Free Trade Areas of the Americas, Canada should seek to work with the U.S. and Mexico to expand individual bilateral trade agreements with other countries in the hemisphere, he said.

Mutual cooperation on trade issues has been advantageous to the Canadian economy, Mr. Wilson said, citing his country’s 15 consecutive years of growth and an inflation rate under 2 percent. Canada has enjoyed eight consecutive budgetary surpluses and current accounts gains for 29 consecutive quarters, he added.

This economic success is largely due to government policy, as well as free trade agreements such as Nafta, said Mr. Wilson, who served as Canada’s finance minister from 1984-91 and as minister of industry, science and technology and minister of international trade from 1991-93, during which time he helped to negotiate Nafta.

As ambassador, Mr. Wilson made the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute a priority and helped to negotiate an agreement last summer after decades of dispute over Canada’s alleged dumping of softwood lumber on the U.S. market.

Mr. Wilson was formerly chairman of UBS Canada, a division of financial institution UBS AG, and headed RBC Financial Group’s institutional asset management business. He serves as a spokesman for the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, a lobby group advocating public-private partnerships.