MacKay Fails To Convince U. S. To Budge On Border Security

Legislation that has passed the U.S. Congress will compel Canadians travelling to this country by air or sea to carry passports by next January; a year later, all travellers crossing the border will require passports or similar secure identity cards. Rice told MacKay yesterday that Washington is looking for an inexpensive, easily obtainable alternative, but said that, despite difficulties within her own department in adhering to the congressional deadlines, the timetables will not be moved. "We have a law, and the first point is that we're going to uphold the law,'' Rice said, echoing comments made by U.S. President George W. Bush at a trilateral summit in Cancun, Mexico recently. MacKay said the previous Paul Martin government let the U.S. initiative move too far along without engaging Washington. "If they (the Liberals) had been able to engage prior to the legislation, we would be in a much different situation. We might have been able to satisfy them with certain initiatives. This is an after-the-fact assessment, I acknowledge that, but this might have led to something less than what they are headed toward. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1144965014221&call_pageid=970599109774&col=Columnist1053514084392

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