U.S. Consul General Visits Club

When Mr. Huffaker came to Canada he originally lived in Ottawa from 1999-2003. He is now living in Calgary since receiving his post of Consul General for Alberta, Saskatchewan and the NWT. He has a staff of 25, and their duties mostly deal with US citizens that are travelling abroad in Canada. He hopes his trip today is one of many more he would like to make. However, he did mention that the US Consul does have a website that can be used as a virtual contact if needed.

Mr. Huffaker spoke about US and Canada relations. He stated that Canada is the strongest allie that the US has. He believes that the US and Canada have the best trade relationship in the world with 1.5 billion dollars being traded daily. That is approximately 1 million dollars every minute.

He acknowledged that Canada is the leading supplier of energy to the US, with 2.5 times the amount of energy (oil, gas, etc) provided more than any other country, including the middle east. He visualizes this country as one of great prosperity in the development of oil and gas in the NWT, as well as, now supplying the world with 15% of some of the most valuable diamonds ever found.

Of importance to Mr. Huffaker, is the issue of the new border crossing implementations that will take effect by Jan 8, 2007, for all those travelling by air. The implementation simply requires that all persons wishing to enter the US will require a passport from their home country. No longer will a driver license or birth certificate allow one to enter. He believes this is the easiest and most cost efficient way to control the borders into the US. If travelling by land, this implementation will become effective in 2009.

If anyone has any questions for Mr. Huffaker, he or his staff can be reached at huffakertk@state.gov or (403) 444-5225.