As the January 1st, 2008 deadline approaches for requiring that all individuals traveling from Canada into the United States carry valid passports, the Canadian government is now looking to make it easier for Canadians to obtain the documents.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced Monday that his government is mulling the possibility of extending the Canadian passport life from 5 years to 10 as a way to "streamline" the process of obtaining passports.
U.S. passports already have a lifespan of 10 years at a cost of $97, and only $67 for a renewal. Canadian passports all come at a cost of $87 every five years.
As it now stands, over 60 percent of Canadians do not carry passports, and would thus be unable to make trips across the border once the new legislation comes into effect. Passport offices on both sides of the border are expected to face a surge in passport applications this year ahead of the deadline.
According to Passport Canada website, "the Government of Canada is concerned that the work required may not be completed within the established time frame, given the complexity and magnitude of the work to be completed." If the government goes ahead with the Day's suggestions to increase the passport life to 10 years, the documents could become much more accessible.
The Canadian government has attempted to launch protests against the U.S. legislation that would require passports-like documents to travel into the United States from Canada and Mexico, but to no avail.
In the pre-Easter debates in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that the U.S. law "is not in the interest of either of our countries, that it will inhibit commerce and inhibit travel between countries."
But Liberal MP Lucienne Robillard accused the PM of failing to stand up for Canada's national interests during his summit with President Bush in Cancun earlier this month, reminding the House that American Senators were going to fight the legislation but that, "unlike American Senators, our Prime Minister simply threw in the towel in Cancun…he simply cut and ran."
The U.S. legislation was passed unanimously by congress in 2004 as a way to strengthen border security. Its intention, according a government website was "to keep our border open for business but closed to terrorism." The Bush administration insists the legislation will speed the flow of legitimate traffic between the United States and Canada, but critics on both sides of the border fear that it will not only cause endless headaches to equip non-passport holding residents with the documents, but will also have catastrophic effects on both nations' tourism industries.
Roughly 40 percent of Canadians and less than a quarter of Americans carry valid passports. Currently, that's no problem for those wishing to make trips across the world's longest undefended border; all you need is a driver's license or birth certificate.
The ease with which Canada and U.S. citizens can travel between the two countries is crucial to the survival of each nation's tourism industries. Canadians account for nearly 30 percent of all travel to the United States. Similarly, the Canadian tourism industry is buoyed largely by the roughly 15 million American tourists who visit Canada each year.
NDP Member of Parliament Brian Masse said it will be a "nightmare" for tourism and trade between the countries once the new law comes into effect. For centers like Victoria, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Edmundston and Windsor, the passport requirement at the border will kill jobs and affect Canadian economy, he said. Masse has called on the Canadian government to develop a comprehensive national tourism strategy to lessen the blow to the nation's economy.
Border states in the U.S. have also leveled protests against the plan, not only because of the impacts to business and tourism, but also for fears of what some have described as an "Aunt Tilly" problem: U.S. citizens crossing into Canada, then getting stranded because they didn't know they needed a passport to return home.
In response to complains from border state lawmakers, the Bush administration indicated this week that it is considering scaling back the strict passport rules. Jim Williams, director of a Homeland Security Department program that monitors international travel to the U.S., told the Associated Press that the U.S. government is looking into the possibility of issuing short-term passes or one-day passes for U.S. travellers who do not have a passport or the proposed "PASS" card, which is currently being developed for U.S. citizens.