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The U.S. Consulate in Toronto - Welcome Comments by U.S. Consul General John R. Nay to the Florida Great Northwest Trade Delegation

Welcome Comments
U.S. Consul General John R. Nay
Florida Great Northwest Trade Delegation
Intercontinental Hotel, Toronto

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Good morning and Welcome to Toronto.

Thank you for inviting me to address you. Since I saw your bios let me say a few words about my own career in the Foreign Service.

I am a native of Michigan and have served as Consul General here in Toronto at the U.S. Consulate since June 2006. Prior to that I served in Washington, DC, India, Taiwan, Singapore, South Africa, and Calgary. I am very lucky to be here in Toronto, it's a great city and our only overseas post with Major League Baseball. I have very much enjoyed my visits to Florida over the years, ranging from Escambia County in your far northwest corner - the first place in Florida I ever visited, by the way - to Miami, and from Orlando to St. Augustine to Hurlburt Air Force Base. First, I want to highlight the region our Consulate is responsible for, the province of Ontario, often called the economic engine of Canada. Ontario is the center for the automotive, mining, financial services, media, chemical, plastics, food products, tourism, and information technology sectors, among others.

At the Consulate, we spend a lot of time working on border issues. Our mission is to represent the United States here and to help facilitate the movement of legitimate trade and travelers across our border. More than 20 of the 135 border crossings between our two countries are in Ontario. We are the largest non-immigrant visa processing post in Canada -- we see 65,000 visa applicants annually. When you factor in that the vast majority of Canadians do not need visas, our visa staff ends up seeing applicants from over 170 different countries. One of our other important functions is American Citizen Services; annually we assist thousands of American citizens who are in our consular district. We issue thousands of passports and assist many Americans in trouble. At the Consulate we have State, Commerce, Agriculture, Justice, and Homeland Security representatives, all working together closely and with their Canadian counterparts on matters of mutual interest including trade, law enforcement, and security as key priorities.

Let me point out some of the obvious facts. The U.S.-Canadian partnership is huge. There never has been a trading and economic relationship between two countries as large as the one that exists between Canada and the United States today. The reality is Canadian exports to the U.S. have risen almost 50 per cent since September 2001 - to $306 billion U.S. Total trade is over $1.5 billion per day.

For 39 of our 50 States, including Florida, their number one foreign trading partner is Canada; 23 per cent of the United States exports come north to Canada and 75 per cent of Canadian exports go south to the United States. Total Florida-Canada trade is $6 billion, a 9% increase over previous year. The top Florida export to Canada was orange juice and concentrates - not a big surprise. The top Canadian export to Florida was softwood lumber, just ahead of pharmaceuticals. Travel is an important industry -- in 2006 Canadians took more trips abroad and spent more while away, than ever before. Canadians continued to spend more in Florida than any other state, about $2.4 billion in 2006. Florida was also the second most popular state for Canadians to visit, hosting about 2.1 million overnight visits there in 2006. Florida captures 13% of all Canadian visitors but 32% of all visitor nights due to the snowbirds.

You have probably heard about the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, WHTI, which since January of this year has required a passport for air travel and will be in effect, probably late summer or early fall of 2008 for land and sea travel. We are committed to do everything we can to ensure the border works smoothly and that we facilitate legitimate travel and trade. Being from a border state myself, Michigan - the state with the most trade with Canada of any state in the Union - I know how vital it is that the border work smoothly. You may have heard various things about the passport requirement, but the fact is that a passport is a quicker and smoother way of crossing the border than old-fashioned choices like trying to couple a birth certificate and a drivers license. The challenge is simply persuading the public to get a passport. That clearly is working. The State Department is likely to issue over 18 million passports this year, up more than 50% from just a year ago. Tourism is vital to Florida's economy, as it is to many parts of Michigan and New York and also to Canada. We are working together to move the border process into the 21st century. You can help us spread the word, by encouraging travelers to apply early for passports or the trusted traveler card, NEXUS.

Thank you again for coming to Toronto, I hope you have a successful visit.