Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered some hope to Mexico, but no guarantees on Sunday, that its citizens would regain visa-free travel status to Canada some day.
"The visas will stay as long as the problem exists," Harper told a news conference for the so-called Three Amigos Summit after reporters asked if the measure was permanent.
"We had been facing over the past several years, and particularly this year, a rise in the number of bogus refugee claimants coming from Mexico.
"This is not the fault of the government of Mexico -- let me be very clear about this. This is a problem in Canadian refugee law which encourages bogus claims."
Mexico's President Felipe Calderon had promised to lobby Canada on reversing the summit. The move has been portrayed by Mexico's media as an insult. "The visa issue is top of mind for the Mexicans," CTV's Roger Smith told News Channel from the summit.
The visa requirement came about last month. Currently, Canada is getting 9,000 refugee applications per year from Mexicans. Almost all are rejected and the volume of claims is jamming up the system.
Canada also slapped a visa requirement on visitors from the Czech Republic.
Harper said his Conservative government will be tabling a plan to speed up processing times of refugee claims and to cut down on bogus claimants while not harming legitimate refuge-seekers.
The prime minister did say the RCMP will be lending a hand to Mexico as that country battles ruthless drug cartels -- a battle that took an estimated 6,000 lives in Mexico in 2008.
Harper made the announcement upon arrival in Guadalajara for the summit with Calderon and U.S. President Barack Obama.
The Mounties will provide training to all manner of Mexican law enforcement officials, from raw recruits to top officers.
Entry-level officers will learn about interviewing, mid-level about money-laundering and undercover tactics, and senior officers will learn about crisis management, public relations, and dealing with civilian leaders.
It comes as Mexico starts to move from an inquisitorial justice system to an adversarial one such as exists in Canada.
The expenditure is modest, about $400,000, but government officials say they are responding to a request from Mexico and are prepared to do more.
Other issues
While border security and the economy will also be on the table at the Sunday/Monday meeting, Harper and Calderon will likely form a united front against protectionist policies included by Congress in the White House stimulus plan.
After all, the restrictive trade policies threaten to block both Mexico and Canada from taking part in Washington's mammoth recovery scheme -- a problem which could cost both countries billions in cross-border contracts.
Indeed, both Mexico and Canada send about 80 per cent of exports to the U.S., which continues to be plagued by a deep recession. This year, it's expected that Mexico's economy will shrink by about seven per cent and Canada's will contract by about 2.3 per cent.
Calderon is also expected to press Obama on a delayed U.S. plan that would help Mexican officials in their struggle against powerful drug dealers.
Known as the Merida Plan, Washington was set to hand Mexico a US$40-million boost, but the funds have been delayed amid concerns over alleged human rights abuses.
Some of those concerns centre on reports that the Mexican military recently tortured 19 police officers from Tijuana who had been accused of taking part in drug dealing operations.
On Wednesday, Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's Ambassador to Washington, said that his country desperately needed the financial aid.
"We'd like to see it accelerated," he said, according to The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, a statement from Harper released on Friday said the leaders will also talk about climate change, security and swine flu, which is expected to take the form of a trilateral approach to the illness.
The trio is expected to make a joint announcement on swine flu strategy in the coming weeks, according to a White House White House Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan. But the pandemic threat could push climate change to the backburner, as all three countries grapple with ways to cut back on carbon emissions.
Earlier this year, Obama and Calderon agreed to co-operate on the "US-Mexico Bilateral Framework on Clean Energy and Climate Change," which sets out broad environmental goals.
Still, any discussions with Mexico could set a template for U.S-led climate change talks with other developing nations, such as China and India.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
