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IP: GlobeAndMail: Ottawa to cut U.S. out of satellite project
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 15:39:56 -0400
From: JBUGDEN () ALIS COM There was also an earlier suggestion that part of the U.S. objection was that militarily grade observation photos would now be available commercially. Being outside of U.S. control was also stated as a factor. Land of the free-ish, home of the paranoid. James Ottawa to cut U.S. out of satellite project Manley takes Radarsat business to Europe HEATHER SCOFFIELD, Parliamentary Bureau, Wednesday, August 11, 1999 Industry Minister John Manley, embroiled in a bitter dispute with the United States over its defence-technology regulations, yesterday ordered the makers of the cutting-edge Radarsat-2 satellite to take all their business to Europe. Mr. Manley told the Canadian Space Agency and MacDonald Dettweiler and Associates Ltd. of Richmond, B.C., to cut out U.S. suppliers and NASA from the project, and to turn instead to Europe. Launching the $305-million satellite in Europe and buying parts from European suppliers, defence experts say, will add at least $100-million to the price tag -- and probably much more. "Given our historical relationship with the U.S., I do not take this step lightly," Mr. Manley said yesterday in a speech in Vancouver. He added in an interview: "We're going to work on a European solution." In the speech, he also accused the U.S. government of illegally applying U.S. rules to Canada. [...] Ottawa and the company unveiled the partnership with great fanfare in February, promoting Radarsat-2 as being so powerful that it will be able to take precise pictures from space of items as small as licence plates. [...] A huge hurdle is the U.S. government's objections to Canada's dual-citizenship laws. Under the new defence regulations, U.S. companies are unable to obtain export permits to send data, blueprints or products to Canadian businesses that employ workers with dual citizenship and who will handle the goods or services. For example, if a Canadian firm has a Canadian-British engineer working on a project deemed sensitive by Washington, the firm is not allowed to deal with U.S. companies or bid on U.S. projects. But Canada's human-rights laws forbid Canadian companies from discriminating against employees on the grounds of nationality. http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/National/19990811/UMANLN.html
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- IP: GlobeAndMail: Ottawa to cut U.S. out of satellite project Dave Farber (Aug 11)