    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [March 30, 2006]
    [Pages 623-625]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada in Cancun
    March 30, 2006

        President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you. This is a--we've had
    a day full of talks. I had a really good meeting with the Prime Minister
    on the choppers, flying to the Mayan ruins. We've also had a very good
    meeting here. We talked about a lot of subjects.
        I view the relationship with Canada as a vital relationship for the
    United States. The relationship, of course, is defined Government-to-
    Government. It's also defined people-to-people, and there's a lot of
    people in my country who respect Canada and have great relations with
    Canadians, and we intend to keep it that way.
        The Prime Minister, of course, was--made an emphatic case for
    softwood lumber. And I appreciate his steely resolve to get something
    done. And I assured him that our intention is to negotiate in good
    faith, in a timely fashion, to resolve this issue. And I appreciate
    your--appreciate you pushing.
        We also talked about the mutual values we share: respect for human
    life and human dignity. And along those lines, I want to thank you very
    much for two things: one, the quick response that your Government and
    your country gave to those who suffered by Katrina. It indicates the
    Canadian people's desire to help humans when they suffer. I appreciate
    very much your trip to Afghanistan and you and your Government's support
    of their fledgling democracy, support of people that have been under the
    brutal thumb of tyrants--so brutal they wouldn't let young girls go to
    school--and it's representing the great Canadian tradition of really
    helping restore human dignity in people's lives.
        The Prime Minister and I talked about a variety of subjects. We've
    got a lot of common interests. We've got a lot of trade between our
    countries--nearly half a billion dollars in--$500 billion in the year
    2005. And that trade means jobs on both sides of the border. And it's
    our intention to make sure that we continue to trade as freely as
    possible so that our people can benefit. All in all, Mr. Prime Minister,
    I found today to be a valuable day, and I want to thank you very much
    for your candor.
        Prime Minister Harper. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

    [At this point, Prime Minister Harper spoke in French, and no
    translation was provided.]

        I'll try to repeat all of that. [Laughter] First of all, just to
    begin by saying that we had a long meeting both this morning and this
    afternoon, the President and I, discussing particularly global security
    issues of national and shared security interests.

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        And as you know, we're cooperating on these things in places like
    Afghanistan, Sudan, Haiti. Canada and the United States from time to
    time will disagree on particular courses of action that should be taken,
    and we may have different perspectives and even different interests, but
    there should be no doubt that Canada and the United States share very
    important common values--values like freedom, democracy, human rights,
    and the rule of law. We believe that these values are important not only
    for Canada and the United States, but they are the right of every people
    on the face of the Earth. We may disagree on how we get there, but
    that's the objective that we share.
        We're going to meet later on in the spring to further discuss
    cooperation on some of these matters. We're also going to be discussing
    some initiatives--we've taken to task some of our officials to discuss
    some energy and environmental concerns. We're anxious--we're in a
    continental security market, and we're anxious to see our officials
    discuss not just energy security but how we can harness energy, new
    energy technology, to make real progress on greenhouse gas emissions and
    also on pollution. So we'll have some discussions in the next few weeks
    along those lines.
        We're going to move quickly to renew--to sign an agreement to renew
    NORAD, to take that to Parliament in the not-too-distant future.
        Of course, we discussed softwood lumber. The President has expressed
    his desire to see a resolution. I certainly accept at face value the
    President's commitment to that. I just reminded the President that
    Canada's position on this is very clear, and if we don't see a
    resolution, Canada is certainly going to continue to pursue all its
    legal options as well as enhanced support for our industry through this
    battle.
        We talked about issues like passports, Devil's Lake, BSE, all areas
    where there remain some difficulties and some--[inaudible]--but I think
    we agreed to work together to seek some collaboration on all these
    fronts. In particular--and I didn't mention this in French--we've
    asked--we're going to be asking Secretary Chertoff and Minister Day to
    meet as soon as possible, at the highest levels, to do what we can to
    see how we can accommodate congressional legislation on passport travel
    issues. These present for us some pretty significant challenges, and we
    are concerned about the disruptions to trade and other travel that this
    may bring about.
        And let me just end by saying, as I think you heard me say a few
    days ago, I expressed through Ambassador Wilkins, and I've had a chance
    to do it--[inaudible]--how much the Government of Canada appreciates the
    actions taken by our allies and our friends both in the United Kingdom
    and in the United States in the liberation of the hostages that were
    held in Iraq. You know, Iraq, in particular, has been a source of some
    disagreement--dare I say some tension--between our two peoples, but I
    think this incident reminds us that when the chips are down, we all pull
    together and support each other. I hope that's a lesson we keep in mind
    for the future.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:40 p.m. at the Fiesta Americana Condesa
    Cancun Hotel. Prime Minister Harper referred to Minister of Public
    Safety Stockwell Day of Canada. A portion of these remarks could not be
    verified because the tape was incomplete.

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