Clearly all the US governors and Canadian premiers near the border share the same opinion about the proposed new border rules being pushed by the USA. Bad for business and bad for people and they are all gearing up for a fight.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=968350116467
Opposition grows over U.S. border rules
Ohio gears up to battle Washington

Shares Canadian concerns over ID
Apr. 10, 2006. 01:00 AM
ROB FERGUSON
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU


CHICAGO—Sharing Canadian concerns that looming new U.S. border security rules will hurt tourism and business, Ohio is girding for a fight with Washington, says Governor Bob Taft.

"If the regulations are too burdensome and create a problem, we'll be pushing back," Taft told the Toronto Star.

Pressure would be put on Ohio members of Congress to delay or modify the requirements for passports or a yet-to-be-developed special identity card starting Jan. 1, said Taft, in Chicago for this week's global biotechnology conference. The concerns could easily become an issue in mid-term congressional elections coming in November.

"We're going to be monitoring very carefully how the federal government implements that requirement and looking for ways we can alleviate any potential burden on the commerce that exists," Taft said.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty applauded the move yesterday, saying there is a "disconnect" between Washington and northern states, whose lifeblood is cross-border trade.

"Broadly speaking, security is supposed to trump everything else but when you speak to northern governors they speak of economic security and jobs," said McGuinty, also in Chicago for the conference.

McGuinty, who also serves as Ontario's minister of research and innovation, announced $16 million in new funding for a second phase of Toronto's MaRS Centre, which houses science and technology labs along with tech companies and investment firms that can supply the cash to bring new discoveries to market.

Border provinces are concerned because only one in four Americans has a passport, suggesting few would bother getting the new ID card, either, limiting visits and costing the Canadian tourism industry alone about $1.6 billion annually, according to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.


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`If the regulations are too burdensome ... we'll be pushing back.'

Bob Taft, Ohio governor

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At risk for Ohio are billions of dollars in commerce and tourism, said Taft, a Republican.

"Ontario is our number one trading partner," despite the fact the two jurisdictions don't share a land border, added Taft. "There's a lot of traffic and people both ways."

Ontario Tourism Minister Jim Bradley said he agrees with Taft that a "better alternative" is needed.

The governors of Michigan and New York are among those "on side," Bradley said from Toronto.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest met Taft yesterday in Chicago to keep pushing the issue. He also intended to raise it with the governor of Kansas in efforts to build support beyond border states.

"We raise it systematically with all the governors we meet ... they react very positively," Charest told the Star.

"It's the story of hockey teams that go back and forth," he added. "It's the people who cross the border every Saturday to eat in a restaurant on one side or the other."

Last week, Bradley accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of raising a "white flag" on the issue at the so-called "three amigos" summit in Cancun, Mexico, with U.S. President George W. Bush and his Mexican counterpart Vicente Fox.

Harper told reporters Canada is "running out of time" on the issue.

Bush, whose own popularity is slumping, said the law requiring people crossing the border to have passports or special identity cards will take effect as scheduled Jan. 1 at air and sea borders, and land crossings a year later.