President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with

August 21, 2007,11:57 A.M. EDT,PRIME MINISTER HARPER: (As translated.) Might I, first and foremost, thank all the people here and the citizens of Montebello for giving such a warm Quebec welcome. You are quite right to be proud of your beautiful Montebello manoir and the area.,As the leaders of the three countries, our discussions between President Bush and myself were very cordial, constructive. Our three countries maintain peaceful, productive relations and give great contributions to our people. It is part and parcel of our commitment to democracy, free market, NAFTA, and the equality of chances to all citizens.,This is a unique moment to look at the individual aspects that we could look at and the challenges that we have to face. We agreed to discuss the protection of the consumer and looking at the non-secure products entering the nations, in particular those going to our children.,We also recognize the fact to find practical, pragmatic solutions to our mutual environmental challenges. Our countries are working to find our own sustainable energy and to find national standards on energy efficiency.,Finally -- and this is particularly important for Canada -- we realize that border security must not threaten the friendly relations that we have. We undertook agreements on cooperation, standards, regulations, intellectual property, and research in the energy field. In the framework of this summit, we met the North American Competitiveness Council. Their leaders provided us with valuable information on how we could exploit our partnership in the field of security and prosperity to strengthen our economies and to create good jobs here in North America.,Our discussions did not merely deal with North America. We also discussed a number of other international and hemispheric questions: climate change, and to the next meeting of the Middle East discussions, where our countries are defending democracy and freedom, and protecting the have-nots.,This summit enabled us to discuss our singular bilateral discussions. President Bush and myself met yesterday afternoon. We discussed a number of subjects, in particular our joint commitment to have a secure border that shall remain open to goods and services, and to the interaction between the our respective citizens.,President Calderón and myself also had a meeting yesterday evening, and I would like to thank President Calderón and his wife Margarita and their children, Maria, Felipe, for having passed a wonderful time with us last weekend. We understand that you have had to shorten your stay, due to the consequences of Hurricane Dean on your country. I sincerely regret the terrible aspect of this Hurricane Dean on Mexico, but I understand the concern, that the Mexican authorities have assisted in evacuating a Canadian citizen.,We have also been able to arrange our agenda yesterday to discuss important matters for our respective nations. We were able to discuss a number of different matters, and the flourishing development of trade between our two countries, and that we shall pursue in the future Canada, United States and Mexico, our good neighbors and good friends.,As sovereign nations in our modern world, we are not merely independent but also interdependent. And we are determined to cooperate for our mutual security, our continued economic growth, and the improvement of our North American relations are unique in the world.,(Speaks in English.) -- the staff here and the people of Montebello for their warm Québécois hospitality. You have every reason to be proud of this magnificent resort and this beautiful region.,As host of this year's North American Leaders Summit, it's my responsibility and pleasure to report that the discussions between President Bush and Calderón and myself were as cordial as they were constructive. Our three countries share peaceful and productive relations that are of considerable benefit of the people of our respective nations. These relations are rooted in our common commitment to democracy, free and open markets through NAFTA, and equal opportunity for all of our citizens. This week's summit has provided an opportunity to share individual perspectives and to take stock of the challenges that we face together.,We agreed to work together on consumer protection. We have to identify and stop unsafe goods from entering our country, especially those designed for our children. We also agreed on the need for practical solutions to our mutual environmental challenges. Our countries are already working together to develop clean and sustainable energy, and we're cooperating on national fuel efficiency standards.,Finally -- and this is especially important for Canada -- we agreed that border security measures, critical as they are, cannot threaten the bonds of friendship or commerce between us.,Over the past year we've achieved agreements on regulatory cooperation, pandemics, intellectual property and research in energy. As part of our summit, we also met with the North American Competitiveness Council. The Council's business leaders have provided us with good, practical advice on how we can build our Security and Prosperity Partnership, to strengthen our economy, and create good jobs right here in North America.,But our discussions were not focused exclusively in North America. We also discussed a range of international and hemispheric issues from climate change to the upcoming APEC meetings, from the Middle East to Haiti, where all three of our countries are working to advance freedom, democracy, and development for the most impoverished people.,Moreover, the summit provided opportunities for one-on-one discussions about our unique bilateral relationships. President Bush and I met yesterday afternoon. We discussed several matters, including our joint commitment to a secure border that remains open to the exchange of goods and services and the interaction of our people.,President Calderón and I met last night. First let me take the opportunity to thank the President, his wife Margarita, and their children Maria, Felipe, and Juan Pablo, for spending some time this past weekend with our family. I understand you're cutting your visit short, given the impact of Hurricane Dean on your country. I regret the cost of this terrible natural disaster. At the same time, we appreciate the efforts of the Mexican authorities to secure the evacuation of Canadian citizens.,I'm grateful we were able to arrange our schedules yesterday to meet and discuss matters formally before your departure. We had the opportunity to discuss many issues related to the growing relationship between Canada and Mexico that we're going to lead forward together.,Canada, the United States and Mexico are good neighbors and good friends. As sovereign countries in the modern world we are both independent and interdependent, and we're committed to working together on mutual security, continued economic growth, and expanding our unique North American relationship.,President Bush.,PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, Prime Minister. Thanks for having us here. I, too, want to thank the good folks of Montebello for their wonderful hospitality. The food was good, the hospitality was warm. You picked a great place to come.,I expressed my country's concerns for the citizens whose lives will be affected by Hurricane Dean. I respect the fact that President Calderón has decided to get back to Mexico as quickly as possible in a safe way. I want you to know that U.S. agencies are in close touch with the proper Mexican authorities, and if you so desire help, we stand ready to help. The American people care a lot about the human condition in our neighborhood, and when we see human suffering, we want to do what we can to help alleviate that. So we wish you all the best.,These meetings are -- I'm not going to try to reiterate what Stephen said. He went through the list of the meetings. And he's a -- he's right, that we talked about a lot of issues. I just want to give you the spirit of the discussions and why I think they're important.,It's our people's interests that Canada and Mexico work closely together. In other words, there's a good reason why our leaders should come together on a regular basis. First reason why is to figure out ways to continue to enhance prosperity. It's in our interests that the Canadian lifestyle be as strong as it is, and it's in our interests that prosperity spread to Mexico. If you're a U.S. citizen, you want people that live close to you to be prosperous. The more prosperity there is in your neighborhood, the more hopeful your neighborhood is.,NAFTA, which has created a lot of political controversy in our respective countries, has yielded prosperity. Since NAFTA came to be, trade between our respective countries has grown from $293 billion a year to $883 billion a year. Now, for some, those are just numbers; for many, it's improved wages and a better lifestyle and more hope. And the question that we're faced with is how do we continue to enhance prosperity so the average citizen understands the benefits of three countries working together? And I think we made some good progress toward eliminating barriers and toward harmonizing regulations to a point where more prosperity will come to be.,And we discussed a lot of other issues. We discussed bilateral issues. Stephen and I talked about border issues. Of course, Felipe Calderón and I talked about border issues and migration. These are complicated issues, but they're issues that we can work out in good spirit as friends.,One reason one meets is to reconfirm friendships, is to make sure that not only at the leaders' level is there conversations taking place that are friendly, but that that spirit translates throughout our governments. And I think we've accomplished that objective today.,We also talked, as Stephen mentioned, about international issues, issues concerning South America, the Middle East. These are meaningful discussions. I'm glad I came and I'm looking forward to hosting them next year. Matter of fact, it's in the interests of our countries that we have these meetings on an annual basis and then have working groups follow through on the discussion items that -- during our meetings with the business leaders or our own Cabinet Secretaries.,And so thanks for having me. It's been worthwhile. I appreciate it.,PRIME MINISTER HARPER: Señor Calderón.,PRESIDENT CALDERÓN: Gracias. (As translated.) Thank you, Prime Minister Harper and President Bush. In the first place, I would like to thank very specifically -- I thank you for the solidarity, the understanding and the support that I have received from you in order to adjust my schedule to exhaust pending matters and allow me to return in good time in order to personally tend to the emergency situation that we have to face in the Yucatan Peninsula.