TIME TO REVITALIZE TIES WITH MEXICO

President Felipe Calderon's bilateral visit to Canada today, soon to
be followed by his G20 attendance, provides a good opportunity to
reflect on the nature of the Canada-Mexico relationship and consider
how it may be improved.

Mexico's place in North America, supposedly anchored in the benefits
that free markets and development would bring it through NAFTA, today
is difficult to assess.

On the negative side, violence in the border states fed by drugs and
American weapons, the chilling deaths of people massacred at innocent
parties, the ineffectiveness of the judicial system, the death and
intimidation of journalists, the problematic use of the army and even
navy because of the unreliability of corrupt local police forces have
led to speculation in both Ottawa and Washington that it is on the
verge of becoming a narco-state.

And more recently, of course, the imposition of a visa requirement on
Mexicans visiting Canada, the result of an abuse of Canada's refugee
system has - in spite of extraordinary efforts by the Canadian
Embassy in Mexico - caused bitterness in Mexico and the loss of
tourism revenues in Canada.

The positive is much less talked about but nonetheless more
important: a substantial increase in bilateral trade since NAFTA's
inception; major investments in Mexico by firms seeking to establish
competitive advantage for both the U.S. and global markets; increased
mineral investments; a growth in university and cultural links; and
the fact that 1 million Canadians choose to spend significant parts
of the winter months in Mexico.

All this has resulted in increased ties between selected provinces
and states, as is evidenced by Alberta recently opening an office in
Vera Cruz; British Columbia in Baja California, and Quebec in Jalisco.

One concern for policy-makers in all three countries is the question
of how to maximize the trilateral nature of the relationship.

Mexicans still cite president Porfirio Diaz's lament, "poor Mexico,
so far from God and so close to the United States." The effect of
NAFTA on Mexican agriculture; the failure of the United States to
implement key provisions; the fate of 30 million Mexicans in the
United States, many of them illegal; the violence at the border fed
by U.S. weapons, hang over Mexican perceptions of working with the
United States. But Canada can work with Mexico, as it has effectively
done on election reform and policing, free from these prejudices.

Americans, for their part, watch with concern the level of violence
and the flow of drugs and people across the border. Some Canadians,
concerned about the hardening of the Canada-U.S. border and the
effect that American attitudes toward Mexico are having on border
management, have recently pushed for a Canada-U.S. relationship that
ignores Mexico.

This is a mistake: it ignores the gains and promise that is NAFTA;
the close collaboration between Canada and Mexico on many important
foreign policy issues in recent years; Mexico's pivotal role in Latin
America (now a priority for our government) and a growing entry point
for Canadian investment in the region.

These and other factors suggest that this is not the time to ignore
Mexico, but rather to embrace the opportunity it presents. In the
end, ignoring Mexico when dealing with the U.S. also ignores the
political significance of the large Mexican presence in the U.S. And
our mutual concern over drug-related criminality originating in
Mexico but now reaching into Canada must, to be effective, be
addressed together.

In short, we should be exploiting ways where our Mexican relationship
gives us leverage in Washington, rather than downplaying it.

Let us also not forget that Mexico matters more and more for the
provinces. Quebec's representation in Mexico City goes back 20 years
and it now has a presence in four states where it sees significant
interests - cultural and academic as well as economic. Alberta,
British Columbia and Nova Scotia have followed its example and
Ontario, with its interest in the automotive industry and itinerant
labour in our economy, would be wise to consider their example.

Let us hope that the Prime Minister takes advantage of coming events
to "reset the button" on Canada-Mexican relations to develop the
extraordinary potential which unites us in partnership in the Americas.