Hard to believe that a month has passed since the Friday afternoon when I was at the White House watching President Obama and Prime Minister Harper discuss their shared vision for our future.
 
They are taking our relationship to the next level of cooperation.  And they have tasked all of us to make recommendations and to come up with an action plan. It’s a big job.  But it is achievable.  To make it happen we are going to need help.  Not just  from people who work for the government, but from the people we work for – the citizens of the United States and Canada.
 
I’m happy to see that the conversation is underway in the public space. Just today I read what Canada West Foundation Senior Economist Michael Holden had to say about the new Regulatory Cooperation Council. One thing in particular I took away — Michael wants to see the new Regulatory Cooperation Council progress from talk to results.  I can relate to that.  President Obama wants to see results too. He and the Prime Minister have charged us to develop an action plan on how to reduce the regulatory burden which can sometimes impede trade between our two countries.
 
Today there was notice published in the United States Federal Register soliciting for input to help identify potential sectors in which the U.S. government can work to reduce regulatory burdens and improve competitiveness.
 
In our country, we use the Federal Register as our mechanism for gathering public comment.  In this case in particular, it’s really important to hear from the people most affected to see what they identify which might be standing in their way.
 
We want consumers, workers, industry and business people, entrepreneurs — people from across both countries — to participate and to advise us on how we can do better. And we want to hear from people quickly so we can get the ball rolling.  That’s why the announcement has a 30 day comment period. A word of advance warning, sorry that the notice is written in “bureaucrat-ese.” But we are, after all the government!!!
 
Please take a look at this announcement, and pass it along. We welcome Canadian voices.  We’re looking forward to hearing from you.  This is your chance to tell us where to focus our efforts.
 
It’s easy to submit a comment – just go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for docket number ITA-2011-0003-0001. The deadline for comments is April 4, 2011.
 
DJ