U.S. and Canada Signed MOU on Emergency Management Cooperation

I was very pleased to welcome Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon to Washington today for his first official visit as Foreign Minister. In addition to discussing the many important issues on our bilateral agenda, we signed an updated U.S.-Canada Memorandum of Agreement on Emergency Management Cooperation. The agreement provides a framework for our two countries to cooperate in planning for and responding to natural and man-made incidents, emergencies, and disasters. This new agreement supersedes a 1986 agreement and reflects changes in agency responsibilities, stakeholders, and terminology, among many other features.

In signing the agreement, we addressed a Security and Prosperity Partnership goal of coordinating appropriate responses to catastrophic incidents in North America, a goal reiterated at the 2007 and 2008 North American Leaders’ Summits. I signed a similarly updated U.S.-Mexico agreement on emergency management with Mexican Foreign Minister Espinosa during my visit to Mexico on October 23, 2008.
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