Deeper economic integration has been stalled by a risk-averse U.S. government
What was once proudly touted as the world’s “longest undefended border” is now monitored by Predator drones and radar. Neighbours who could casually cross the border for a dinner or a hockey game now show a passport to get across. Businesses fill out proliferating stacks of paperwork to move goods across the border. “Nobody would have expected it [before 9/11],” says Eddie Goldenberg, who was a top aide to Chrétien. “And my own view is they have gone overboard since 9/11. It clearly has negative consequences. I think U.S. tourism is down because a lot of Americans don’t have passports. It’s become very complicated with goods, for just-in-time delivery, particularly for the automotive industry.”
Meanwhile, the infrastructure hasn’t kept up. A second bridge between Detroit and Windsor—more trade passes through that border crossing than between the U.S. and all of Japan—has been talked about for years but remains unbuilt. “It’s pathetic,” says Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor who was appointed by president George W. Bush as homeland security adviser and then the first secretary of homeland security. The failure to build a new bridge and the failure to enact “pre-clearance” facilities at the land border have been examples of what he calls government “inertia.” “Overall I’ve been disappointed,” Ridge told Maclean’s. “There has been modest progress but there remains cultural and institutional resistance.”
