US embassy cable - 05TORONTO2838

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TORONTO 002838 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, PBTS, PTER, PINR, KPAO, PREL, CA, Border Patrol, Crime 
SUBJECT: Bringing Order to the Border:  The Niagara 
Triangle Integrated Border Enforcement Team 
 
REF: (A) State 163356 (B) Toronto 2451 
(C) Toronto 2469 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified - Protect accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: At a ConGen Toronto-hosted October 
13, 2005, dinner meeting in Toronto, border and law 
enforcement officials from the Buffalo/Niagara region 
expressed pride in the continued effectiveness of cross- 
border cooperation in combating transnational crime. 
The guests, which also included the newly appointed 
Consul General in Buffalo, Steven Brereton, and ConGen 
Toronto section chiefs exchanged ideas and updated each 
other on: 
 
--the challenges presented by the Western Hemisphere 
Travel Initiative; 
 
--ongoing negotiations to establish co-located 
preclearance facilities at Fort Erie and Alexandria 
Bay, NY; 
 
--recent success of Project Shiprider in the 
Detroit/Windsor region; 
 
--shortcomings associated with the NEXUS, FAST and C- 
TPAT programs; 
 
--gun smuggling problems; 
 
--the expansion  of the Child Exploitation Tracking 
System (CETS) computer program; 
 
--the importance of public diplomacy in the group's 
work; 
 
--the status of the new law enforcement hub at the 
Consulate Annex; and 
 
--upcoming meetings of interest to law enforcement, 
e.g., Project North Star October 26 and 27 and the 2006 
FBI National Academy Associates Annual Training 
Conference in Toronto July 14-19, 2005.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U) On October 13, 2005, the Consul General hosted 
a dinner at the residence in honor of the Niagara 
Triangle Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) from 
New York and Ontario, leading provincial Canadian law 
enforcement officials and ConGen Toronto Pol/Econ, PA 
and CA section heads.  The purpose of the gathering was 
to review and enhance areas of bi-lateral and inter- 
agency cooperation and to introduce the newly-appointed 
Canadian Consul General to Buffalo, Steven Brereton. 
(NOTE: Participants list is at para 15 and bio for 
Brereton, a career Foreign Service officer with a 
distinguished trade background, is at para 16.  END 
NOTE) 
 
3.  (U) After welcoming the guests, introducing members 
of the ConGen Toronto staff, including several new 
members of the ConGen Toronto law enforcement team, and 
giving an overview of the respective work mandates, the 
Consul General expressed her appreciation for IBET's 
work and the successful model the team had established 
for emulations elsewhere.  She emphasized the 
importance of unimpeded law-enforcement-to-law- 
enforcement communications and pledged her Consulate's 
support to this end, as did Canadian Consul General 
Brereton.  All present agreed the accomplishments of 
cross-border law enforcement cooperation, including the 
IBET team, were something to be proud of.  (Note: 
Operational matters are not covered in this message, 
which was cleared by ConGen Toronto law enforcement 
officers.  End Note.) 
 
The Western Hemispheric Travel Initiative (WHTI) 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
4.  (SBU) The American side explained the U.S. position 
on WHTI, drawing on the points from ref (A).  Canadian 
Consul General Brereton emphasized the shared objective 
of ensuring a secure border through such initiatives as 
the IBETs.  However, the WHTI as drafted posed serious 
risks to communities along the northern border, such as 
in the Niagara region, where cross border travel was 
essential to their economic well-being.  Appreciation 
for this environment would help in shaping the 
requirement and, to this end, several events are being 
planned, to help raise awareness of the potential 
impact of the WHTI on northern border communities. 
Principals of affordability and timely accessibility 
should guide the development of any new documentary 
requirement in order to minimize the impact on 
legitimate travel and border (NOTE: Canadian Ambassador 
Frank McKenna's September 26 statement to the Canadian 
Chamber of Commerce at Prince Edward Island that the 
WHTI could cost Canada 7.7 million visits and C$2 
billion in revenue was cited several times during the 
evening.  END NOTE).  Maurice Pilon, Deputy 
Commissioner, Ontario Provincial Police, believed that 
Premier McGuinty's and Governor Granholm's proposal for 
a standardized, security-enhanced drivers' license 
could be made acceptable to critics, to include encoded 
information on place of birth. 
 
Ft Erie/Alexandria Bay Pre-Clearance Facilities 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
5.  (SBU) Peter Smith, Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement Special Agent in Charge of the Office of 
Investigations in Williamsville, NY, described the 
ongoing bilateral discussions to establish co-located 
pre-clearance facilities at the Fort Erie and 
Alexandria Bay border crossings between Ontario and New 
York.  Smith said there are several important issues 
that remain to be ironed out before U.S. border 
enforcement officials could be physically located on 
Canadian soil.  Among others, U.S. officials maintained 
they needed to have (1) the right of first refusal; (2) 
the right to install monitoring equipment on vehicles 
entering the U.S.; (3) the right to work with someone 
who volunteers to cooperate in an ongoing 
investigation; and (4) the right for U.S. law 
enforcement officials to carry firearms in the 
preclearance area.  Smith said these issues will be 
discussed during the next negotiating session (in 
Washington on October 19 and 20) to conclude a formal 
Canada-U.S. Land Pre-clearance Agreement as envisioned 
in the June 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership 
Report to Leaders by the end of this year in order to 
further streamline the secure movement of low-risk 
traffic across our shared border. 
 
Project Shiprider 
----------------- 
 
6.  (SBU) RCMP Assistant Commissioner J.C.M. Seguin 
described the successful Project Shiprider program in 
the Detroit-Windsor area where Canadian law enforcement 
officers working onboard U.S. Coast Guard vessels were 
sworn in as U.S. Customs officers, and U.S. law 
enforcement officers working onboard Canadian vessels 
were designated as RCMP Supernumerary Special 
Constables.  The U.S. and Canadian law enforcement 
officers participating in the cross-border exchange 
were able to carry their weapons during the exercise, 
and some 160 vessels were boarded and inspected. 
Seguin said Project Ship Rider had the added benefit of 
showing the Canadians the equipment they lacked but 
needed to patrol effectively Canada's maritime border. 
As a result, he said, RCMP would be asking for 
additional funding to procure equipment to bring their 
operational capability to the level of the U.S. Coast 
Guard. 
 
NEXUS, FAST and C-TPAT Programs 
------------------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU) The CG advised the group that a decision had 
been taken to open up C-TPAT to a limited number of 
Canadian manufacturers for the first time and that 
invitations to participate would be sent out shortly to 
top manufacturers and shippers from Canada.  While 
applauding the NEXUS (for individuals) and FAST (for 
truckers) travel facilitation initiatives, both 
programs still had several limitations and bugs 
associated with them in terms of processing and broad 
applicability, e.g., the NEXUS card could not be used 
at all entry points and the FAST advance paper 
processing time penalties remained onerous. 
 
Cross-Border Gun Smuggling 
-------------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU) Ambassador Wilkins's letter to Premier 
McGuinty outlining ongoing and proposed areas of 
cooperation had tempered unproductive rhetoric on cross- 
border gun smuggling accusations arising out of 
Toronto's spate of violent crimes in the summer, the 
group agreed (refs (B) and (C)).  Shared responsibility 
was now the expressed guiding principle for 
cooperation.  The Consul General asked Alcohol, Tobacco 
and Firearm (ATF) Attache Regina Lombardo, the newest 
member of the U.S. Consulate Toronto law enforcement 
team, to review her efforts to facilitate cross-border 
law enforcement cooperation to combat gun smuggling. 
Lombardo described her work with the Provincial Weapons 
Enforcement Unit (PWEU) to trace guns stolen or used in 
the commission of a violent crime and advised that she 
would be making a joint presentation with PWEU at the 
upcoming North Star conference.  (ICE Attache Healy and 
A/LegAtts Dunn and Brogan also detailed their agencies' 
cross-border coordination efforts and compared notes 
with Canadian colleagues.) 
 
Child Exploitation Tracking System 
---------------------------------- 
 
9.  (SBU) The group discussed the benefits of the Child 
Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) program developed 
by Microsoft at the behest of the Toronto Police to 
enable law enforcement agencies in Canada and 
internationally to share case information and link 
their efforts to identify and apprehend child 
pornographers.  ICE attach Healy advised that the 
project had received Congressional funding and the 
computer model was being looked at for application to 
support law enforcement efforts in other important 
enforcement areas. 
 
Media Support and Public Diplomacy 
---------------------------------- 
 
10.  (U) The agenda for the evening included a short 
presentation by ConGen Public Affairs Officer Nick 
Giacobbe on Consulate efforts to support law 
enforcement press and public diplomacy needs.  Stuart 
Woodside, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent, Buffalo Sector, 
U.S. Border Patrol, suggested the Consulate participate 
in the IBET spring media debut, an annual outreach 
event to publicize joint border enforcement efforts 
before the boating season begins. 
 
Toronto's Law Enforcement Hub 
----------------------------- 
 
11.  (SBU) A/Legatt Brogan reported all of ConGen 
Toronto's law enforcement agents would be co-located in 
the Consulate annex by the end of November to improve 
communications and coordination among U.S. law 
enforcement agencies with Canadian counterparts.   He 
reminded the group of the 2006 FBI National Academy 
Associates Annual Training Conference, hosted by the 
Toronto Police Service in Toronto from July 14-19, 
2006.  Peter J. Ahearn, Special Agent In Charge, 
Buffalo Division, advised that his office was 
coordinating the event and would ensure that country 
clearance procedures were observed. 
 
Upcoming Law Enforcement Events 
------------------------------- 
 
12.  (U) The group noted the following special events 
that would be of interest to those attending: 
 
--Project North Star Region Coordination Group East 
Meeting in Kingston, Ontario October 26-27; 
--WHTI Town Hall meeting in Buffalo October 28; 
--Spring IBET media debut probably at the Youngstown, 
NY Coast Guard base; and 
--2006 FBI National Academy Associates Annual Training 
Conference in Toronto July 14-19, 2005. 
 
Award Ceremony 
-------------- 
 
13.  (U) At the conclusion of the evening, the Consul 
General presented a State Department Certificate of 
Appreciation signed by the Ambassador to ICE attach 
Craig Healy for his multiple actions of support to 
American citizens ranging from expert handling of the 
Consulate's duty calls, to assistance rendered to 
families of the U.S. citizens in the August Air France 
plane crash, to a call for help from a Hurricane 
Katrina family that had relocated to Windsor, Ontario. 
 
14.  COMMENT: As one of the guests commented, IBET is 
more than just a concept, it is a model of success for 
law enforcement border management.  If the evening's 
discussion were any guide, we could not ask for better 
communication and cooperation among and between 
agencies on both sides of the border.  END COMMENT. 
 
15.  (U) IBET Dinner Attendees included: 
 
Canadian Consulate and Law Enforcement: Steve Brereton, 
Canadian Consul General to Buffalo; Maurice Pilon, 
Deputy Commissioner, Ontario Provincial Police; J.D.M. 
(Michel) Seguin, Assistant Commissioner, Commanding 
Officer, "O" Division, RCMP; Graham Noseworthy, CBSA 
Director General, Fort Erie and Niagara Region; Paul 
Weaver, CBSA Director, Intelligence and Contraband 
Section, Fort Erie Division. 
 
U.S. Law Enforcement: Peter J. Ahearn, Special Agent In 
Charge, Buffalo Division, FBI; Assistant Special Agent 
Doug Riggins; Stuart Woodside, Assistant Chief Patrol 
Agent, Buffalo Sector, U.S. Border Patrol; Peter J. 
Smith, Special Agent in Charge, Office of 
Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 
 
U.S. Consulate General Toronto: Jessica LeCroy, Consul 
General; A/Legatts Matthew Dunn and Michael Brogan; 
Craig Healy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
Attache; Regina Lombardo, ATF Attache; Mike Schimmel, 
Acting Consular Chief and Deputy Consul General; Sherri 
Holliday-Sklar, POL/ECON Chief; and Nick Giacobbe, 
Public Affairs Officer. 
 
16.  (U) Biography of Canada's new Consul General in 
Buffalo follows: 
 
A career diplomat with a distinguished background in 
international trade policy has been appointed Consul 
General for Canada in Buffalo.  Stephen Brereton, whose 
past foreign assignments for Canada's Department of 
Foreign Affairs include postings in Brussels, Tokyo and 
Havana, took up his position in Buffalo effective 
August 29, 2005.  Brereton joined the Canadian Foreign 
Service in 1979 following graduation from Queens 
University with an Honours BA in Economics.  A native 
of Toronto, Mr. Brereton is joined in Buffalo by his 
wife Carolyn and their two sons. 
 
Mr. Brereton's appointment as Consul General follows 
extensive periods of service at the departmental 
headquarters in Ottawa where as Director of the 
Investment Trade Policy Division from 1999-2005 he 
negotiated Canada's rights and obligations under the 
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and World 
Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements with respect to 
investment, competition/antitrust policy, corporate 
social responsibility, government procurement and 
monopolies and state enterprises.  Specific expertise 
with regard to NAFTA's investment chapter led to 
responsibility for policy oversight of investor-state 
litigation cases.  As Director of the Trade Controls 
Policy Division at the Department of Foreign Affairs 
and International Trade in the mid-90's, Brereton was 
charged with the administration and enforcement of 
trade quota regimes governing textiles and agricultural 
products.  In earlier positions at headquarters he 
served as DepartmeQl Assistant to the Minister of 
Industry and International Trade, Deputy Director of 
the Tariffs and Market Access Division, Trade Policy 
Officer within the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs 
and Trade) Division. 
 
Mr. Brereton's foreign service career has included 
assignments as the Trade Policy Counselor at the 
Canadian Mission to the European Union based in 
Brussels (1992-96) and diplomatic responsibilities the 
Canadian Embassies in Tokyo Japan (1984-87) and Havana, 
Cuba (1980-82) as well as the Foreign Service Institute 
in Yokohama, Japan (1982-84). 
 
LeCroy