Canadian Input for New U.S. Border Plan

(Embassy Magazine)

Jerry Grafstein and Rob Merrifield have been working with Louise Slaughter to devise a strategy for the next U.S. administration.

Democrats and Republicans are working together to draw up a new Canada-U.S. border management plan for the incoming American administration, and have asked Canadian politicians for their input after years of poor management following 9/11.

Work on a new border plan has begun at the request of the speaker of the U.S. Congress, California Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

The Canadian point men on the project are the co-chairs of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group: Conservative MP Rob Merrifield and Liberal Senator Jerry Grafstein.

The pair have spent much of the summer south of the border, attending the various legislative councils held each summer across the United States, in addition to the Democratic and Republican national conventions.

…At the request of his American allies, Mr. Grafstein has drawn up a series of preliminary recommendations about what can be done to achieve a better-managed border. A letter, containing eight points, was prepared at the request of Republican Senator and former governor of Ohio George Voinovich on July 31 and later passed to Ms. Slaughter.

Mr. Grafstein’s recommendations touch on points that would ease the flow of both people and goods across the border, and apply to air travel, trucking regulations and infrastructure.

To address trucking snags, he recommends lower inspection rates for members of trusted-shipper programs, such as the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) system, and that an agreement be put in place so “that rail and truck cargo inspected, cleared and secured at a Canadian port should not be subject to further inspections at the U.S. border.”

On the air travel side, the senator recommends that the United States accept Canadian baggage screening as equivalent to U.S. standards so Canadian baggage being transferred in the U.S. does not have to be re-screened.

In addition, Mr. Grafstein requests U.S. authorities address the problem of understaffing at border crossings, with the assertion that major border crossings are lacking as much as 40 per cent of their required American staff.

He also asks for “continued U.S. priority attention” to the Detroit River International Crossing, where the Ambassador Bridge now connects Detroit, Michigan with Windsor, Ontario.

This bridge currently carries some 25 per cent of total Canadian-American trade. To cope with congestion, Mr. Grafstein encourages his American counterparts to proceed with the construction of a second bridge or tunnel.

Finally, Mr. Grafstein asks for continued co-operation in the run up to the June 1, 2009 full implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which will require Canadian and U.S. citizens to use passports when crossing land and sea borders.

The American public, he writes, must be made aware of the need for passports so as to stop any further drop in tourist traffic, which “which has substantially reduced in the last five years because of delays and additional documentation. Read the complete article.