Canusa Street - Intersecting the Canada U.S. Relationship

This week, Congressman Brian Higgins is back on Canusa Street to talk about NEXUS, pandemic-era restrictions, and other roadblocks affecting bilateral traffic and trade along the Canada-U.S. Border. Check out the text of Congressman Higgins’ “Make NEXUS Work Act” here: https://higgins.house.gov/sites/higgins.house.gov/files/NEXUS%20BILL%20-%20MAKE%20NEXUS%20WORK%20ACT.pdf

Scotty and Chris discuss a true Canusa Street issue, the two way street between Canada and the United States when it comes to electricity transmission. Joining them is Francis Bradley, the CEO of Electricity Canada, a trade association of suppliers focused on sustainable electricity. You will probably be shocked at the amount of interesting cross border connections that are made here!

A record number of people are dying from overdoses of synthetic drugs like illicitly manufactured fentanyl.  At the recent North American Leaders Summit, Presidents Biden and Lopez Obrador and Prime Minister Trudeau discussed cooperative ways to address the flow of these substances across our common borders.  Chris and Scotty discuss policy approaches to the drug crisis with one of the leading thi...

You may know that minerals are vital for 21st century life. So much so that some are even called "critical minerals." Fortunately, the US and Canada are abundant in these mineral resources, and Scotty and Chris have a conversation with Abigail Wulf of SAFE on how we can align policy to meet a "critical" need. 

Continuing our integrated North America theme we've been on recently, we talk to Jennifer Pierce. She is the CEO of TC Energy, and a Canadian who lives in Mexico, while running a Canadian company that brings US LNG to Mexico. Scotty and Chris discuss trade, pipelines, government cooperation and friction, new energy transitions and more.

With the Tenth North American Leaders’ Summit around the corner, Chris and Scotty discuss priorities for the three leaders and what to expect from their meetings in Mexico City. Then, we listen in on a special event with Chris and Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols co-hosted by the Wilson Center Canada Institute and Mexico Institute.

In this final episode of 2022, Scotty and Chris take their final interview from their pop-up studio in Mexico City, talking to the Director of the Business Transformation & Innovation Division at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Vincent Annunziato. There is so much to learn in this episode about trade, counterfeit products coming into North America, and Scotty's long held secret desire to be an...

Another guest in our Mexico City pop-up studio is Ambassador Louise Blais, whose 25-year career as a Canadian diplomat brought her everywhere from INTERPOL and the United Nations to the Canada’s Consulate in Atlanta and its Embassy in Paris. She joins Chris and Scotty to discuss the importance of people-to-people connections in diplomacy, prospects for growth in North America, and other lessons fr...

The media landscape has been tough for the last few years. But in Mexico it has been brutal, literally. In this "On The Road"episode, recorded in Mexico City, Chris and Scotty sit down with CBS News Correspondent Enrique Acevedo to talk about the challenges faced by journalists covering politics and crime in Mexico and take a step back to look at the media in North America from Ottawa, to DC, to M...

50 years ago, Canada and the Soviet Union faced off in an historic hockey summit series at the height of the Cold War. The impact of the series on both countries, hockey itself, and the cross-cutting field of sports diplomacy are felt to this day. This week, Chris and Scotty are joined by Ambassador Gary Smith, author of Ice War Diplomat, and Andrew Holman, Professor of History and Director of Can...

With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in the US, huge shifts in critical mineral and battery production could flow south, sparking concern in Canada. That sounds familiar doesn't it?  Scotty and Chris chat with Brian Kingston, President and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association and Kristin Dziczek, Automotive Policy Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, to find...

Join us on Canusa Street to explore the unique relationship between the US and Canada with fun hosts and fabulous guests!

Autos are back on the agenda as Chris and Scotty welcome Rob Wildeboer, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Martinrea International Inc., for a private sector perspective on supply chain near-shoring, electric vehicles, and North American opportunity in the wake of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

This week, we drive down Canusa Street and into Los Angeles, California with special guest Antonio Villaraigosa. The former Mayor and current California Infrastructure Advisor joins Chris and Scotty from the Mexico City pop-up studio to discuss infrastructure investments, sports diplomacy, and solutions to poverty in urban communities.

Chris and Scotty sit with constitutional expert Susan Lagon from the Georgetown Government Affairs Institute. Professor Lagon not only knows the US Congress but she knows Canada and parliamentary systems too! She gives us great insights into the differences between the governments on both sides of Canusa Street.

On this special episode, Chris and Scotty are joined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) representatives in Canada (Rema Jamous Imseis), the United States (Matthew Reynolds), and Mexico (Giovanni Lepri) for a conversation on refugees in North America and how immigrants improve society in all three countries. For more information on the report on refugees in Canada that is...

Hola from the Canusa Street pop-up studio in Mexico City! This episode, Dr. Dany Bahar, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Center for International Development, joins Chris and Scotty on the podcast to discuss North American migration policy, refugee crises abroad, and his research on the economic impact of immigration. Dr. Bahar’s paper on birthplace diversity: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...

Canusa Street is hitting the road again for the North Capital Forum in Mexico City, where the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States will convene in November for the 2022 North American Leaders’ Summit. On this episode, Andrew Rudman, Director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, joins Chris and Scotty for a preview of the conference, an overview of how Mexico compares to its North A...

3…2…1… Liftoff! Scotty and Chris are shooting for the stars this week with special guest Brian Gallant, former Premier of New Brunswick and CEO of Space Canada. Listen in to learn more about Canada’s contributions to space exploration, the layout of the Canadian space industry, and the proposal for Canada’s first commercial spaceport.

Border restrictions, COVID-19, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine: global trade linkages have faced unprecedented strain over the past two years, prompting questions of how Canadian-U.S. cooperation could protect both countries from major disruptions. This week, we tune into Chris’ panel on supply chains with Amazon’s Allison Gifford, Western Washington University’s Edward Alden, and High Peak St...

This week, Denny Heck, 17th Lieutenant Governor of the State of Washington, joins Chris and Scotty in their Calgary pop up studio to talk about border restrictions, the Columbia River Treaty, trade with China, and the concept of “Northwest Nice.”

As Alaskans prepare for the state’s first primary election under ranked choice voting, Lieutenant Governor Kevin Meyer joins Scotty and Chris on Canusa Street to discuss Alaska’s role as the United States’ sole Arctic state, the anticipated benefits of the infrastructure bill, and relations with friendly neighbors to the east and hostile neighbors to the west.

Travelers hoping to cross the Canada-U.S. border still need to navigate a regime of restrictions, apps, and requirements. Laurie Trautman, Canada Institute Global Fellow and Director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University, joins Scotty and Chris to discuss the status of cross-border travel and the impact of government initiatives from ArriveCAN to Nexus.

In this episode, Chris & Scotty take us behind the scenes on the big issues confronting Canada/US relations. And then Scotty interview the current Ambassadors on stage at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s annual summit in Calgary, Alberta. They discuss travel woes, frustration over the cancellation of the KXL pipeline, and state of play on developing critical minerals.

EV tax credits, Afghanistan, trucker protests, leaders’ summits, oil sands: a lot has happened since the Canusa Street podcast launched one year ago in July 2021. Our first guest, Richard Madan, is back in the virtual studio with Scotty and Chris to celebrate the podcast’s one-year anniversary, reflect on the issues and policies of the past 365 days, and talk about what lies ahead in the short- an...