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positions by consensus. Although this was not a guarantee against mistakes—such as the 

 ceilings on the U.S. catch of Fraser River salmon— it was indispensable to the creation of 

 an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust among domestic groups with widely divergent, 

 and often conflicting, interests. The consensus approach also deprived Canada of the 

 opportunity of playing U.S. groups off against one another, and thus led to a Treaty that 

 could be accepted by all affected U.S. interests. 



It is my firm belief that negotiations secretly planned and conducted by the United 

 States, in a frantic effort to respond to intense Canadian political pressures, must 

 inevitably doom the Treaty process. Proposals to trade away the livelihoods of some 

 fishermen to serve the interests of others should be abandoned, as they are both unfair and 

 counterproductive. Accordingly, I urge that the Administration adopt, and the Congress 

 support, a policy of fairness, patience, openness, and consensus. In dealing with Canada, 

 U.S. representatives should keep clearly in mind and resolutely assert those protections for 

 United States interests that were won in hard bargaining with Canada in the course of 

 Treaty negotiations 



