Passports for Canada???? - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

**smallengineguy** · 05-13-2006, 07:44 PM

NEWPORT, Rhode Island (Reuters) - Five Canadian provinces and six Northeast U.S. states agreed on Saturday to fight U.S. legislation that would require passports or sophisticated ID cards to enter the United States from Canada.

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The new rules to take effect from 2008 -- aimed at tightening security after the September 11 attacks -- would create a bureaucratic nightmare, damage trade and shake up border life, said the U.S. states and Canadian provinces.

"The impact would just be devastating," Quebec Premier Jean Charest told the annual Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers.

"This needs further thought before it's implemented. We need to bring a real sense of urgency to this," he said.

Porous in vast stretches and often invisible, America's 5,500-mile border with Canada is drawing closer scrutiny after President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed in March to work together on border security.

Residents in some towns on the world's longest undefended border have long entered the United States with little more than a wave of a hand or a flash of a driver's license.

Under rules written by the U.S. State and Homeland Security departments designed to implement legislation passed by Congress in 2004, passports or credit card-sized PASS cards with biometric features will be required for anyone crossing into the United States from Canada by land starting on January 1, 2008.

Senior officials from the five Canadian provinces and U.S. border states said the rules could drive a wedge between border communities that are culturally and economically entwined, and strain the world's biggest trading relationship by slowing the $1.1 billion in trade flowing each day across the border.

More than 300,000 people travel between the United States and Canada each day. Only about 20 percent of U.S. citizens and 40 percent of Canadians hold passports, which cost nearly $100. The PASS cards would cost about half that price.

In a draft statement released at the end of the two-day conference, the governors or senior officials from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, and the premiers of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island said they would urge the U.S. Congress to delay implementation of the law.

They also agreed to explore other options that would have less negative economic and social impact. Only two states sent governors, although all sent representatives to the conference. Four of the five Canadian provinces sent premiers.

Vermont Gov. James Douglas said the new regulations would make daily life much more difficult along the border where children have long played sports in both countries.

Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri said: "We shouldn't be thickening the border, what we should be doing is working together, the two nations, to protect North America."

"I think a lot of Americans don't fully understand or appreciate what is at stake here," he said.

fr0st · 05-13-2006, 08:48 PM

in quebec it costs 65$ to get a passport and it's a freaking zoo to get one.. you need a signature by an engineer, doctor, lawyer or whatever to certifiy he KNOWS you and you are who you are..

then you need a birth certificate and all sorts of paper...

the irony is

2 years ago, they caught a guy who was selling REAL LEGIT passports to his friends to come over from overseas... and the guy was a freaking towel head... now how come THIS guy in this job position ?? geez..

and now they wanna put passports for us cdn citizens.... well if it's stops terrorist from comin from my side of the border in to the us and making ****, well.. im for it. for the rest of it, it's pretty useless and will costa fortune to the people who cant afford it.

screw them.

Formula_Canuk · 05-13-2006, 09:20 PM

I think its a good idea. I have a passport, it was pretty easy to get. Fill out some paper work, get my doctor to sign it, and send it away. About 3 weeks later, I had one. I think we have bigger things to worry about then something that should have been done long ago. Not to mention the fact that pasports make it a lot easier to travel anywhere, instead of carrying around 3 peices of id that you could loose.

**smallengineguy** · 05-14-2006, 07:03 AM

Funny how you need a doctor, etc to sign it.

fr0st · 05-14-2006, 07:50 AM

yeah but let's say im in new hampshire on a sled touring the state.. i guess i'll have to carry my passport everywhere with me if a trooper stops me going faster then the limit on trails.. or just for a routine check up...

now what IF, i lose it and my stuff get stolen, whatever, i dont have it anymore, i can't go back to across the border?? the logical answer you get in europe is, go to the canadian embassy in the capital of the country your in... nice..

i dont think the embassy is in new hamshire.. or anywhere around the great lakes where i would be sledding.... it's more like it's in washinton DC... so like what, i have to get there in order to get out of the country? nice... i can see myself arriving in front of the embassy with a helmet on with no papers telling them i need a passport...

is there enough snow to get there in winter

you see this has it's drawbacks... there aren't many embassies in the US and it's a big country.. not like germany or france or italy.. trains go to the capital easily and it's not too far since the countries are small..

it's good for terrorism, not tourism..

Fr0st

Formula_Canuk · 05-14-2006, 09:55 AM

If your an avid tourist you will have one anyways. Most places you go now (even the islands) strongly reccomend you have one. Your rational really doesn't make sense, cause no matter what your gonna carry id with you. So instaed of lossing 3 peices of id, you loose you passport. Atleast you would still have the id to get across the border. And money should not be an issue. I beleive they get renewed every 6 six years. Thats like $16 a year

fr0st · 05-14-2006, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Formula_Canuk
If your an avid tourist you will have one anyways. Most places you go now (even the islands) strongly reccomend you have one. Your rational really doesn't make sense, cause no matter what your gonna carry id with you. So instaed of lossing 3 peices of id, you loose you passport. Atleast you would still have the id to get across the border. And money should not be an issue. I beleive they get renewed every 6 six years. Thats like $16 a year

well i think my "rational" as you say it is pretty logical..

if you need a passport to get INTO the us you must need it to come back into canada...

now if they FORCE you to get a passport it must be that OTHER ID's will not be good enough eh ?

so what happens when you lose your passport in USA? you certainly wont just go the the border and say "hey, hi, i lost my passport but heres my drivers license" 2 no problem sir, just walk into canada"

you see thats the problem... if they put this, it will be the ONLY ID to get into and out of canada - USA it,s not an "add-on" to the existing ID's ...

and if you lose it... what will you do?

Fr0st

**smallengineguy** · 05-14-2006, 10:55 AM

Bribe the Canuk guard??

Good point, though. I hope it doesn't come to this.

Formula_Canuk · 05-14-2006, 10:59 AM

You are correct, my thinking is that you would be able to get back across with just your other id.

G-ForceJunkie · 05-14-2006, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by smallengineguy
Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri said: "We shouldn't be thickening the border, what we should be doing is working together, the two nations, to protect North America."

fr0st · 05-14-2006, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Formula_Canuk
You are correct, my thinking is that you would be able to get back across with just your other id.

yeah me too..

i just hope THEY will think like us too.

but in other countries like england of france, if you lose your passport, go directly to your embassy and do not collect 200$

so lets hope they wont do it like that.

Fr0sT