|
Diplomatic Core: Vancouver’s new U.S. consul general aims to unclog border arteries and ensure smooth sailing for U.S. citizens wanting to attend Vancouver’s 2010 Games
Mission: To strengthen U.S. relations with British Columbia Assets: 29 years in the American diplomatic service, including stints in El Salvador, Colombia and Brazil Yield: A new post as the top-ranking U.S. government official in B.C.
 By Glen Korstrom
Vancouver U.S. Consul General Phillip Chicola emerges from his office, adjusts his tie and disarms his visitor by revealing that he spilled coffee on the tie he was wearing earlier. The U.S. government’s top B.C.-based official moved to Vancouver in late August to replace former Consul General Lewis Lukens, who now works at the State Department in Washington. “Phil is a more outspoken character than Lewis was,” said B.C. Business Council CEO Virginia Greene, who has met Chicola several times and dined at his home. “You expect these fellows in the diplomatic service to be very circumspect, but I think Phil speaks his mind, which is very good.” The dapper Cuban-born diplomat oversees 160 employees – most either work in customs at the Vancouver International Airport or are based at the U.S. government’s three-floor consulate in West Pender Street’s mirrored Manulife Building. That number will jump by at least seven in late January or early February when the U.S. opens a second consular office, near the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, to deal with Olympic-related issues. Up to 200 staff will man that office by the time the 2010 Olympic Games open. Staff in at least one more new satellite office, this one in Whistler, will help arrange accommodation for the U.S. Olympic Committee while assisting American tourists who lose passports or identity cards. “We will have more people here [during the Olympics] than we normally do, because there will be increased demand for consular services,” explained Chicola, whose favourite sport is baseball. He also admits to enjoying watching hockey games to see the fights. Olympic matters are increasingly occupying Chicola’s agenda, but he’s also focusing more time on longer-term issues such as how smoothly border traffic is flowing. A recent trip across the U.S. border with one of his two daughters convinced Chicola of the Nexus program’s value for frequent travellers. Nexus expedites border clearance. He has a Nexus pass, but one of his two daughters doesn’t, so they waited for 40 minutes in the standard border lineup and watched while cars zipped by in the Nexus queue. Department of Homeland Security statistics show that 88,155 British Columbians had Nexus passes as of December 2008. That’s up 77% since January 2008. Previous annual growth had been in the 29% range. Starting June 1, 2009, the U.S. government will fully implement its Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). It will require all entrants at U.S. border crossings to either have a passport or other WHTI-compliant document, such as an enhanced driver’s licence (EDL) embedded with a radio frequency identification device that border officials can read from a distance. A standard B.C. driver’s licence and birth certificate will consequently no longer be sufficient to enter the U.S. B.C.’s Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs launched EDLs January 21 for Canadian citizens born in B.C. By early December, the ministry had issued 521 EDLs. The B.C. government’s EDL eligibility requirements will expand in spring 2009 to include all Canadian citizens who live in B.C. Chicola moved to Vancouver from Brazil. Much of his 29 years of diplomatic service has been served in countries such as El Salvador and Colombia, which have suffered through much political turmoil. That’s why he laughs off Canadian angst about how democratic a coalition government overthrow of the minority Stephen Harper administration would be. “You go to the places I’ve worked at – upheaval was my middle name. But it was a different kind of upheaval,” Chicola said. “Here, you have constitutional upheaval, but you have rules, ground regulations, a Charter, tradition, a Constitution, a process by which we deal with this. That’s what democracy is all about.” Chicola’s first experience with political upheaval came when he was 12 years old and Fidel Castro marched into Havana at the head of victorious rebel forces. His family fled to Florida. They later moved to Nebraska, where he attended high school, before he returned to Florida to attend university. Passionate about democracy, Chicola became president of the Florida Young Democrats and supported former U.S. president Jimmy Carter’s successful bid for the White House. His work earned him a political appointment in Washington, D.C. But he soon tired of politics. Chicola embarked on a diplomatic career after passing the State Department’s foreign service officer exam. Chicola’s proudest moments have been times when he was able to encourage communication between governments and rebel factions. “I arrived [in El Salvador] in 1988 in the middle of a civil war. My house got shot up,” he said. “By the time I left, the same people who had been shooting at my house in 1988 – as a matter of speaking – were having breakfast at my house in 1993.” Given Chicola’s passion for democracy, it’s curious that he cancelled his consulate’s plans to host a November 4 U.S. election night celebration. The consulate held election night parties at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in 2000 and 2004. “It wasn’t a matter of money,” he said. “It was, ‘Why are we duplicating something that so many Canadians are doing themselves?’” He added that the consulate’s 2008-09 budget is safe because the fiscal year started on October 1, immediately prior to the full effects of the global economic crisis being felt in North America. Next year’s budget will be more closely scrutinized, because citizens are demanding heightened fiscal accountability and two sets of eyes will be on the numbers. President George W. Bush’s administration will have prepared the budget, but the administration of incoming President Barack Obama will approve it. Obama’s victory will change the way the world views the U.S., but Chicola said it won’t change U.S.-Canadian relations much. “Our relationship is very institutional. It’s sort of like a big ship going down the ocean. It turns very slowly. Any changes will be gradual.” •
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Business in Vancouver January 6-12, 2009; issue 1002 |
