Thread: Senate demands new ID to cross border

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/20 ... 0-sun.html

October 25, 2006

Senate demands new ID to cross border
By ALAN FINDLAY, OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA -- Canadians should have new ID to enter the U.S. as tougher American border rules are phased in, a Senate committee recommended yesterday.

Passports should also be made valid for 10 years (double the current five years) to help defray the costs and economic impacts of tighter American border security, the banking, trade and commerce committee report says.

"According to (the Canadian Tourism Commission) ... Canada is expected to lose about 14.1 million inbound person-trips and nearly $3.6 billion in tourism receipts from American travellers between 2005 and 2010," the report warns.

Washington's Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requires all entering the U.S., including Americans visiting Canada or Mexico, to show a passport.

New timelines require air travellers entering the U.S. to carry a passport as of next January. The same rules for land and sea travellers could kick in as late as June 1, 2009.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently published proposals for an American wallet-sized, passport-type card that would cost half as much as a passport to keep border traffic flowing.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has suggested Canada has no similar plans for an alternative card, according to a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.

When I lived in Canada we always had to show photo ID when we crossed the border and they preferred seeing passports for ID. Using only passorts for ID is a good idea but they also can be forged. Canada is notorious for having passports being stolen and used for making fake ones.