Border report in final stretch

May 17, 2005

17 May 2005

Border report in final stretch

The following article is excerpted from the 16 May 2005 edition of “The Windsor Star”.

A groundbreaking report on Canada's borders will be "about 50 per cent" focused on trade and security issues at crossings in Windsor, said Senator Colin Kenny, chairman of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence.

"It will comment on how to make border services more effective and expose a number of issues about the Detroit-Windsor crossing," Kenny said. "We will be putting a number of positions on the table."…

A final draft of the Senate committee's border report is to be released in mid-June -- provided there is no federal election. Should an election be called, the report will likely come out in the fall, Kenny said.

He said the battle over the location and who will build the next local crossing has turned into "a huge challenge" unlikely to meet the unveiling date of 2013 scheduled by a binational committee assigned to recommend the location.

"They say it will be 2013, but it will be more like 2019," Kenny said. "There are too many players and governments involved….

He said if the Windsor border crossing debate cannot be resolved soon, governments should turn their focus to building a new crossing in other border municipalities….

He said the most significant testimony given in the U.S. capital came from Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) who told the senators he did not support pending U.S. Homeland security legislation calling for the mandatory use of passports to enter the country.

The congressman is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee which sets federal regulations, including those for the border. "He sided with President Bush on not wanting to make passports compulsory," Kenny said.


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