Ottawa urged to address long waits at Niagara border crossings

October 27, 2016

Wait times at Canada’s second-busiest border crossing can stretch to hours, according to mayors and bridge authorities in Ontario’s Niagara Region who are pleading with Ottawa to boost staffing levels to ease the congestion, especially as the busy Peace Bridge prepares to reduce its operating lanes next month...

The Peace Bridge between Fort Erie, Ont., and Buffalo is one of three border crossings in the Niagara Region where wait times skyrocketed this summer. Some travellers waited for more than two hours to cross the Peace, Rainbow and Lewiston-Queenston Bridges while processing booths sat empty, bridge authorities said. The long wait times are a far cry from the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) service standard: 10 minutes from Monday to Thursday, and 20 minutes on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays...

The concerns over border wait times in the Niagara Region come as the Liberal government works to improve the flow of travellers and trade at the Canada-U.S. border. During Justin Trudeau’s first trip as prime minister to Washington in March, Canada and the U.S. agreed to a number of border pacts aimed at loosening barriers at the border. Ron Rienas, general manager of the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority, said these agreements are meaningless if the CBSA can’t manage wait times at the border as it is...

Mr. Rienas said a new rule this spring requiring border officers to be certified to carry a gun made it particularly difficult for the CBSA to properly staff processing booths at the border. He said the CBSA normally hires seasonal workers, including students, to backfill for border officers on vacation during the summer, but had a hard time doing so this year because the temporary workers weren’t certified to carry arms...

This is excerpted from 26 October 2016 article by The Globe and Mail.


Topic(s): 
Canadian Economy & Politics
Information Source: 
Canadian News Channel
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