19 April 2005

Border plans give Tourism Minister the chills

The following article is excerpted from the 19 April 2005 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

Jim Bradley likes open borders. As an ardent sports fan, he travels frequently to Buffalo and other U.S. cities to attend games and it's always a spoiler when there's a backup at the crossing.

But his interest in free-flowing traffic between Canada and the United States isn't just personal. As Ontario's Tourism Minister, Mr. Bradley is developing furrowed brows over a proposal by the Bush administration to tighten border security. Tourism in Ontario is beginning to bounce back from the horrible performance of 2003 when the SARS outbreak persuaded Americans that there were safer places -- where they might not die of a terrible disease -- to spend their holidays.

The fear among Ontario government officials is that a new U.S. plan to force travellers from both the United States and Canada to carry passports or other (perhaps biometric) identification documents by 2008 could badly hurt the tourism industry. They worry that a range of tourist attractions in the province that depend on casual visitors from the northern states would take a hit….

Indeed, there are a whole range of activities -- golfing, dining, shopping -- that attract tourists making last-minute decisions to cross the border. The prospect of lengthy queues or the need to carry identification documents would likely keep these people at home. Even convention planners might opt for Chicago or Philadelphia over Toronto if they suspect the border has been tightened….

Premier Dalton McGuinty raised the issue yesterday in an 80-minute meeting in Washington with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that was also attended by Quebec Premier Jean Charest, Canadian Ambassador Frank McKenna and Julian Fantino, Ontario's new commissioner of emergency management. Mr. Bradley and Ontario Economic Development Minister Joe Cordiano will continue the fight today by buttonholing members of Congress and business people at a series of events.

There's a strong hope in Ontario that the new regulations won't be enacted as planned. Officials are buoyed by President George W. Bush's comment last week that he had asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take another look at the plans to see if some flexibility for the Canadian (and Mexican) situations could be found….

Certainly, the President is being lobbied by officials in border states who take seriously all that stuff about "longest undefended border" and fear the new regulations. At the same time, however, Mr. Bush is being cautioned not to let down his guard. The Boston Globe noted Canada's grumbling but argued for the new regulations because it's a scary world and "Canada is not known for its immigration restrictions."

Mr. McGuinty received a sympathetic hearing yesterday from Mr. Chertoff, who explained that he simply needs a standard identification document that provides more assurance than easily forged driver's licences. He told his visitors that he is trying to find a compromise between economic prosperity and security.

But security provisions trump everything in the United States these days. Ontario had better hope that nothing happens to change Mr. Chertoff's mind.