Linda's letters...and inserted comments. ______________________________________________ First from the Office of the Prime Minister... (Normal Salutations) Dear Ms. Deck, On behalf of the Right Honourable Jean Chretien, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your correspondence of October 6 regarding Chapter 16 of the North American Free Trade Agreement. You may be assured that your remarks have been carefully reviewed. As the matter you have raised is of particular interest to the Honourable Sergio Marchi, Minister of International Trade and the Honourable Lucienne Robillard, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, I have taken the liberty of forwarding copies of your correspondence to them. I am certain that the Ministers will give your comments every consideration. Yours Sincerely, Kimberley Peever Special Assistant, Correspondence (This is referring, ofcourse to my cover letter and the package of letters that a number of the NAFTA families sent to the Working Group co-chairs with copies to our infamous leaders.) A bit of trivia: I am now on the Prime Minister's mailing list for press releases. I am not sure how I managed to get onto it - as I did not request it. It looks like one of the civil servants added me to the list. ____________________________________________________ The White House Washington October 20, 1997 Ms. Linda Deck (address removed) Dear Linda, Thank you for sharing your views about the North American Free Trade Agreement. America's continued prosperity depends, as never before, on our ability to tap growing markets around the world. NAFTA represents a great opportunity to create new, high-wage jobs here in America and to improve our ability to compete with Asia and Europe. And, as a result of this agreement, the Mexican and Canadian markets are beginning to open for the first time on a fair and equal basis to US goods ans services. More than two million American jobs are supported by exports to Canada and Mexico, and that number is growing in large part due to the NAFTA market-opening provisions. Congress passed NAFTA in a historic demonstration of bipartisan support, and our country has chosen to compete -- not retreat-- and to reassert our leadership in the global economy. I hope you will continue to stay involved as we work to move our country forward. Sincerely, Bill Clinton Now, as most of you know by now, I am not usually at a loss for words. All I can say is that at least the assistant found the standard NAFTA response in the pile to respond with. It does beat the first letter where he thanks me for my input and tells me that he values the opinions of Fellow Americans. I wish you were all here while Jamie, my son, dramatically read it aloud to me tonight. I'm sure we could have all had a good Canadian laugh over it. (Maybe we would have needed those tissues after all!) And hey! It did get into the 6 month pile rather than the quick 3 month pile of responses! I can hardly wait for tomorrow's mail. When will Hillary Clinton's response be here? ____________________________________________________ And now, some personal mail. This is from an American lady who I met and thought might have a couple of possible solutions for us TDs. (Long story...) Anyhow, this is the card she sent.... pretty arrangement of fruit on the cover. On the inside: Dear Linda, Thanks for coming to my home and sharing your struggle with me. I only wish I could help. If you ever need me to sign a petition or talk to a politician, please call me. You're in my prayers. Elaine Somehow, I think that I value Elaine's comments a wee bit more. Perhaps I am jaded. I should feel honoured to have warranted two letter each from the Prime Minister and President. But I feel that Elaine's opinions are very sincere. _______________________________________________________ Citizenship and Immigration Canada Selection Branch November 10, 1997 (Normal Salutations) Dear Ms. Deck, I am writing in response to your letter of October 6, 1997 and the accompanying package of information on Dependent employment. As you know, the issue of spousal employment will be discussed at the next meeting of the working group and your submission will be raised. The meeting has however not yet been scheduled and it is unclear if we will be able to meet this calendar year. I will keep you informed of developments. Sincerely, Dougall Aucoin Director Economic Policy and Programs So, the good news is that we have it in WRITING (to back the telephone conversations) that they will add our package onto the agenda. (For those who do not know, Dougall Aucoin is the Canadian co-chair of the Chapter 16 Working Group committee). In the summer, the American and Canadian co-chairs both informed me that the meeting would be in November. Then I had the panic attack making sure everyone had their letter into me by the end of September so that I could assemble the package for distribution. In early October, they informed me in a telephone conversation that the meeting may not happen in November. Now in November, we still have no news about when the annual (MANDATED) meeting will happen. Does this surprise me? Not in the least! I just bet that if this were an issue that affected their loved ones, the meeting would have happened by now. But then, the employment issue would have probably been resolved in 1993 before the NAFTA came into effect. __________________________________________________________________ This letter comes from one of our colleagues, motivated I'm sure, by the letter above from Dougall Aucoin. I think it's a superb one: Members of the NAFTA Sectretariat, Firstly, I am a TN, working in Colorado, and living here with my wife and 3 children (TDs). We are deeply concerned about our continued ability to serve the special needs of my employer, while meeting our familial needs, as are many other TN families. I just received a message from Linda Deck (nafta@pagemastersinc.com), who has been waving the banner for the cause of TN families in the USA, that from a message from Canadian Citizenship & Immigration department director Dougall Aucoin, that the mandated meeting of the working group looking into employment status for TDs has not been scheduled. Firstly, this group is MANDATED to meet at least once per annum, and secondly, as more and more TNs are discovering, this issue is becoming more and more important. On a personal level, my family is currently having to consider the impact of leaving lucrative and rewarding employment for me (the TN) and returning to Canada prematurely for the job, because of the need for children to attend college and permitting my teenage children and spouse to work. The option of the Green Card would in all probability take too long. Like so many other TN families, we are bitterly disappointed to hear this news. We were not only looking forward to this meeting, nominally planned earlier this year for November, but also to an express resolution to the dilemna so many Canadian families are now facing. Your input into this matter and news into the scheduling of this meeting would be appreciated, not just by myself, but by so many other TN families in the USA. Regards, Stuart Brook cc. other potentially interested and involved parties. _________________________________________________ Just thought I'd keep everyone updated! If anyone is interested in joining the NAFTA e-mail group, just let me know!