U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Office of Government Affairs
Michigan
Area Coordinator:
John Van Dinter, N-LAW
State Liaison:
Richard Ives
Department of Natural Resources
Coast Guard Auxiliary District: 9ER and 9CR and 9WR
Coast Guard District: 9th
Second Quarter Report, 2009:
Although there
is nothing new in legislation now, the following will have effect
over the next few months.
The Mackinac policy conference was held May 27-30th, 2009, at the
Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island. The Detroit Regional Chamber
sponsors this annually. This year approximately 1400 people
were in attendance. More than 95 State Legislators and staff
were on hand. This draws politicians and business people from
all over Michigan.
In attendance were Governor Granholm, the newly elected Mayor of
Detroit, Dave Bing, and leaders of the MI Counties of Oakland,
Wayne, and Macomb. T-Bone Pickens, the former corporate
raider, who has become a big proponent of wind energy and natural
gas, was one of the keynote speakers. With Michigan's upcoming
Governor race in 2010, several of the Republican potential
candidates and Lt. Governor John Cherry, the Democratic Candidate,
were also in attendance. The CEOs of many corporations and large
banks and their staffs were there as well.
In years past a lot of legislation came out of these meetings from
both political parties. (The first conference was held on the Island
in 1981)
On May 26th, 2009, the Honorable Peter Van Loan,
the Canadian Minister of Public Safety, and the Honorable Jennette
Napolitano, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, toured the port
operations of both sides of the shared U.S. and Canadian country
borders, and signed an agreement to make shiprider law enforcement
teams stationed along the maritime borders permanent.
Shiprider enables the RCMP and the U.S. Coast Guard to cross-train,
share resources and personnel, and utilize each others vessels on
the waters of both countries, such as on the Great Lakes and on the
St. Lawrence Seaway. Working together, Canadian and the U.S.
law enforcement will help ensure that criminal organizations no
longer exploit the shared border and waterways because of the
inherent judicial challenges associated with cross-border policy.