22 September 2006

Border cards are inevitable, Wilkins affirms

The following article is extracted from the 22 September 2006 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

Canadians must prepare for new regulations that require them to carry identity cards when crossing the border, U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins said yesterday, dashing any hope that there will be exemptions made for the people he called America's best friends.

In a speech in New York just hours before, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the border initiative threatens to divide Canada and the United States at a time when the two countries should be collaborating more closely.

The Department of Homeland Security is expected to release within the next two weeks information and rules about the new identification cards, the ambassador said.

And Mr. Wilkins said it's time Canadians accept the new ID cards required of them when they enter the United States.

"The law has been passed," he said in a speech yesterday to the Vancouver Board of Trade.

"Unless Congress decides to delays its implementation, that will be the law and the law will be implemented. We need to plan on it being implemented and work towards the easiest implementation of it."

The cards will be the size of a driver's licence and have the same information as that on a passport….

The Conservative government has urged Washington to delay enacting the law and has expressed concerns that businesses and agencies on both sides of the border may not be prepared for the change.

But there are no indications the White House is prepared to delay. …

But concerns remain, largely in the business community and tourism industry, about the economic impact of increased delays at the border and more bureaucracy interfering with trade and visitors.

In New York on Wednesday, Mr. Harper said in a speech to a business audience that industry leaders should push for implementation on a realistic timetable.

The close interaction between the two nations remains so seamless and easy that the ambassador warned yesterday both sides fall prey to letting "escalating amounts of minor irritants [grow] into a major crisis," unless there are constant reminders that each is the other's best friend and ally…