However, I feel that the UK security arrangements with the rest of the EU and Switzerland’s setup may give us some insights. Better coordination between the security services, for example. A leading French journalist from the Metro One network walked into the Surete to visit one of his contacts, asked for the file on Zacharias Massaoui, and a folder the size of a small white pages directory was put on the table (not opened of course). Switzerland has different queues for Swiss citizens, EU citizens, and Others (to reflect different entry criteria) and as a non-EU westerner, I often get bumped up (as do Japanese) as the Swiss and EU lines empty. A common set of “flow criteria” for US and Canadian citizens (and maybe permanent residents) would go a long way to relieving congestion in the interest of leisure and business in both directions.

The American and Canadian attitudes on immigration are much more divergent than they appear at first look. (I’ve lived in both countries.) In the US, the top immigration issues are illegal “aliens” and concerns about taking away jobs from Americans. In Canada, the top issues are recognizing foreign credentials for “new Canadians” and processing delays in the immigration system. I know which set of problems I’d prefer to have.

As for the original problem, there’s a much simpler solution. Frequent travelers can join the Nexus program to get into a fast lane at border crossings; in Niagara Falls there’s even a Nexus-only crossing (the Whirlpool Bridge). And if a fast rail service were created, there should be customs facilities at the train stations (including, ideally, US preclearance at Toronto’s Union Station).

Given the difficulties that the US is having with implementing current security strategies on its own borders, the “security perimeter” would have been even more difficult had Canada accepted. And having lived in three American cities and traveled to a dozen others, I would doubt that many policymakers would have thought of a continental system (even one run by the US). Maybe a Lou Dobbs quote from tonight provides insight, “First of all, before we are a marketplace, we are a nation!”

(Apparently at the end of each quarter hour, Lou has a new format where he gives a rant with veins popping in his forehead.)

Many US critics of Canada point to Ahmed Ressam, who was intercepted at Port Angel, WA in Christmas 1999 and an example of Canada’s “lax” immigration policies (and I do have issues with our refugee policy, but not the regular process). Nobody seems to bother to point out that his accomplice was living in Queens, NY on US refugee status, or that maybe a hundred American citizens and permanent residents have been arrested on terror charges, a homegrown problem that is being ignored.

On another topic, Continental security makes all kinds of sense. American’s worry about Latin American immigrants probably makes it politically impossible to the South, but a US-Canadian joint security program and more open border should be possible — maybe under another US administration.

First, there has been a big investment at the Queenston Lewiston bridge to separate truck and passanger traffic.

Second, the average delay is not that big.

Third, the delay in getting anywhere in Toronto is probably worse. At rush hour near Pearson Airport, it can easily take an hour to 1.5 hours to get out of the area and onto the highway.