2009-05-27
07:12:26
The U-S Homeland Security chief says the new passport rules that go into effect June 1 are common sense.
As of next Monday, travellers to the U-S will need a passport or an enhanced drivers licence to cross the border. Janet Napolitano says card readers have been distributed and travellers have been warned of the changes for months.
Napolitano is meeting again today with her Canadian counterpart, Peter Van Loan in Ottawa, to go over border concerns. The two were in Detroit and Windsor yesterday to boost policing
on the water.
An agreement now allows Mounties and the U.S. Coast Guard to ride on each other's vessels for joint patrols. Their vessels must currently stop at the border and call the other country's agencies for help.
Meantime, the Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association doesn't anticipate any problems with American tourists getting stranded next week in Canada because they don't have a passport.
Executive Director Doug Reynolds says they have been working on this issues for several years now.
"We and lots of other folks have tried to get the word out that this requirement has been coming," says Reynold, "and it's been coming for some time. We've also reminded folks as well it's a U.S. initiative, not a Canadian initiative. They don't need a passport to get into Canada. They need a passport to get back home."
Reynolds suggests that high gas prices and the recession will likely have a bigger impact on travel plans by American tourists this summer than the new passport requirements.
