Harman, The Honorable Jane

Petras, Stephen J., Jr.

Sands, Dr.Christopher

English

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Canada-United States Law Journal Volume 45 Issue 1 Article 10 1-1-2020 2020 Canada-U.S. Law Institute Experts' Meeting The United States and Canada: Outlook for Bilateral Relations in 2021 --- Welcom & Opening of the 2020 CUSLI Experts' Meeting Stephen J. Petras Jr. Dr.Christopher Sands The Honorable Jane Harman Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cuslj  Part of the Transnational Law Commons Recommended Citation Stephen J. Petras Jr., Dr.Christopher Sands, and The Honorable Jane Harman, 2020 Canada-U.S. Law Institute Experts' Meeting The United States and Canada: Outlook for Bilateral Relations in 2021 --- Welcom & Opening of the 2020 CUSLI Experts' Meeting, 45 Can.-U.S. L.J. 71 (2021) Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cuslj/vol45/iss1/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Journals at Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Canada-United States Law Journal by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. 2020 CANADA-U.S. LAW INSTITUTEEXPERTS’ MEETING – THE UNITED STATESAND CANADA: OUTLOOK FOR BILATERALRELATIONS IN 2021DECEMBER 10, 2020TABLE OF CONTENTSWelcome & Opening of the 2020 CUSLI Experts’ Meeting .............................. 71Keynote Address – The United States and Canada: Outlook for BilateralRelations in 2021 ................................................................................................ 75Panel Discussion – Predictions for the Bilateral Relationship ............................ 81Panel Discussion – The 117th Congress ............................................................. 94WELCOME & OPENING OF THE 2020 CUSLIEXPERTS’ MEETINGSpeakers: Stephen J. Petras, Jr., Dr. Christopher Sands& The Honorable Jane HarmanMR. STEPHEN J. PETRAS: Welcome, everyone, to a program put on by theCanada-United States Law Institute and the Canada Institute of the WoodrowWilson Center. This program is on “The United States and Canada: Outlook forBilateral Relations in 2021.” We’d like to welcome all of you. The Canada-UnitedStates Law Institute is happy to collaborate again with the Canada Institute of theWoodrow Wilson Center on assessing the impact of an important election. We didthis together last year, assessing the Canadian national election, and it’s been apleasure to work again with the Wilson Center.Let me briefly tell you a little bit about the Canada-United States LawInstitute. CUSLI is, first, a law institute focused on legal and policy issues facingand impacting the two countries. We have two presidents: Erika Chamberlain,dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario, and MichaelScharf, co-dean of Case Western Reserve University School of Law.We also have two co-chairs: Jim Peterson, former Minister of InternationalTrade of Canada, and Jim Blanchard, former congressman from Michigan, formergovernor of Michigan, and former U.S. Ambassador to Canada. We also have twonational directors. Chi Carmody, professor at the Law Faculty of the University ofWestern Ontario, is our Canadian national director, and I am the U.S. nationaldirector from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.72 CANADA-UNITED STATES LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 45, 2021]CUSLI focuses on policy and legal issues facing the two countries. We do thisthrough our Experts’ Meeting, our Annual Conference, and our scholarly articlespublished in the Canada-United States Law Journal. This coming year, in 2021,we will have our Annual Conference on April 22 and 23—hopefully in person, butat least virtually—that will focus on the Arctic. And it’ll focus on the impact ofclimate change on regional security issues in the Arctic, on Indigenous peoples inthe Arctic, on the environment of the Arctic, and on international relations in theArctic. So, please mark your calendar for that important event.Today, we are here to assess the results of the election of Joseph Biden as theforty-sixth president of the United States. To lead this event is Christopher Sands,professor of the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and thedirector of the Canada Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center. Chris holds manydistinguished positions and posts, and he has testified before the federallegislatures of both countries, and published widely on U.S.-Canada relations.Moreover, we are very proud that Chris is a member of the Executive Committeeof the Canada-United States Law Institute. So, Chris, over to you to moderatetoday’s important event.DR. CHRISTOPHER SANDS: Thank you very much, Steve, and I’m sopleased to have the chance to have the Canada Institute host the Canada-UnitedStates Law Institute’s Experts’ Meeting for a second time running.Last year, when we gathered, we were looking ahead to the potential of theelection to reshape bilateral relations. And at that time, I was a speaker, but Iwasn’t working for the Woodrow Wilson Center. One year later, I’m pleased to beable to offer to host this important conference at the Woodrow Wilson Center.And, more importantly, I’m pleased that I’ve been with the Canada-U.S. LawInstitute now, believe it or not, for almost ten years. I joined the ExecutiveCommittee in 2011, so this is a milestone event for us all.And to make it truly special, it’s my honor to be able to introduce my boss,director, president, and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center forScholars, the Honorable Jane Harman. Congresswoman Harman served nine termsin the U.S. Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives. She has been on almostevery important committee of foreign policy, homeland security, and nationaldefense. She’s played a major role in shaping U.S. policy and U.S. foreign policyaround the world, and now she continues that leadership role as the head of theWoodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars—started as a memorial forPresident Woodrow Wilson, and part of the Smithsonian Institution, a collectionof fine organizations.One distinction, though, I think I’m happy to convey about Jane Harman isthat she has always been a great friend of Canada, and that comes through verystrongly. It came through the first time I ever met her, and her support for theCanada Institute, and for sensible policy and exchange with Canada is justunmatched from senior Americans that I have met. So, with that, let me turn theprogram over to my boss, Congresswoman Harman.THE HONORABLE JANE HARMAN: Well, thank you, Chris. You’ll nowget a promotion. That was quite impressive.(Laughter.)2020 CUSLI Experts’ Meeting 73But hello, everyone. And hello to many good friends that I’m looking at onmy Zoom, including Jim Blanchard, a former colleague.Anyway, I call myself a recovering attorney and a recovering politician. I sayit’s not a twelve-step process. But I’m not a recovering lover of Canada and theU.S.-Canada relationship, having been there many, many times, having missed,sadly, the Halifax Security Conference this year, where I have become a regular.So, we’re talking about Canada and the U.S. election. And I would justobserve that, over the past four years, America has quite frankly exhaustedCanada. From the negotiations over USMCA [United States-Mexico-CanadaAgreement], which was a huge success, and a credit to the Trump administrationand the Congress—I mean, it’s hard to always say these two things worktogether—and to Canada, and to Mexico. From that huge negotiation—some of uscall it NAFTA 2.0—to tariffs, to defense, to our handling of the COVID crisis,Canada has stood beside a less predictable, and sometimes less reliable, ally thanshe has had in the past. And while Canada, I would say, is not only our neighbor,our popular neighbor to the north, but our most trusted ally. The enduringfriendship between our nations would not be possible without the talent and gritof our diplomats.So, with that, please join me in welcoming Kirsten Hillman, who wasappointed Canada’s Ambassador to the United States in March of this year, and isthe first woman to serve in the role.By the way, there are so many first women now. One of whom, Karen Pierce,is from Britain, and someone I’ve gotten to know well. Another of whom is fromGermany. And it is just fun. We ought to have, if we ever can get together again,a power women lunch, breakfast, or whatever, inWashington. I highly recommendthat. Chris, you might be appointed for the day, or for the event, an honorarymember of the tribe. But, at any rate, we won’t go there right now.DR. SANDS: I hope so.(Laughter.)HON. JANE HARMAN: From August 2019 to her nomination, AmbassadorHillman served as Canada’s Acting Ambassador to the United States, and prior tothat she served as Deputy Ambassador toWashington fromAugust 2017 to August2019. So, she’s got lots of experience. Before joining the embassy in Canada tothe United States, Ambassador Hillman held the position of Assistant DeputyMinister of Trade Agreements and Negotiations Branch at Global Affairs Canada,which oversees Canadian trade policy and trade negotiations—perfect experiencefor what is going on now. She was also Canada’s chief negotiator for theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership—theCPTPP—which, speaking for myself, I wish the U.S. were still participating in.Ambassador Hillman has held various positions both at home and abroad,including Associate Assistant Deputy Minister for Trade Policy Branch and seniorlegal advisor at the PermanentMission of Canada to theWorld Trade Organizationin Geneva.Ambassador, thank you for joining us. I think we’ll get all of our technicalproblems sorted out, quietly somehow, while you are giving a keynote address,and I will ask you a few brief questions after that before we proceed with the74 CANADA-UNITED STATES LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 45, 2021]program. Welcome. Welcome to this jointly sponsored event. We’re so happy thatyou could be here.(Applause.)

2020 Canada-U.S. Law Institute Experts\u27 Meeting The United States and Canada: Outlook for Bilateral Relations in 2021 --- Welcom & Opening of the 2020 CUSLI Experts\u27 Meeting

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2020 Canada-U.S. Law Institute Experts\u27 Meeting The United States and Canada: Outlook for Bilateral Relations in 2021 --- Welcom & Opening of the 2020 CUSLI Experts\u27 Meeting

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