Canada unveiled a major border security and prosperity initiative, saying it would spend more than C$432 million (US$368 million) over the next five years to protect its border from terrorist, economic and environmental threats.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day made the announcement on Friday at the Canada-US border crossing between Windsor and Detroit, Michigan, where one-third of the US$1.6 billion in daily trade between the North American neighbors crosses over the Ambassador Bridge or in tunnels beneath the Detroit River.
"I even sometimes surprise my American friends when I remind them that the trade that comes across the Ambassador Bridge in total is greater than all of the trade that exists between the United States and Japan,'' Day told a news conference.
Security experts have long criticized the lack of security measures along Canada's side of the 6,435km border with the US, particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, pledged when he was elected nearly a year ago to strengthen the frontier between the world's largest trading partners, including the security measures just unveiled, and eventually arming Canada's border guards.
The bulk of the money -- US$337 million -- is for the eManifest program, which allows for computer-automated risk assessments of cargo shipments before they reach Canada.
The 18,000 trucks that cross the US-Canada border each day, as well as all railroad, air and marine cargo carriers, will eventually be required to file electronic manifests before their shipments arrive.
This will help border service agents to determine in advance whether the cargo, or those who are delivering it, should be further screened.
The eManifest program will ensure that background checks on crew and risk assessments of cargo are in the hands of the Canada Border Services Agency 24 hours in advance of the arrival of shipments by sea and several hours ahead of railroad, highway and air cargo.
The program was developed in cooperation with the US Department of Homeland Security.
It is part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, launched in 2005 by then prime minister Paul Martin, US President George W. Bush and then-Mexican president Vicente Fox.
Day would not give a precise date as to when the electronic manifests would become mandatory at the 119 border crossings.
"There's still going to be that human element at the border, to look at material and talk to the driver, but the amount of time that's going to be saved is going to be significant," he said of the requirement to file electronic manifests in advance of cargo shipments.
Another US$20 million has been earmarked for business leaders and emergency responders to plan for the immediate resumption of trade across the border in the event of a terrorist attack, medical pandemic or natural disaster.
Perrin Beatty, president of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, said that his and other associations would work with governments and emergency response teams on both sides of the border to stage exercises and develop protocols that would get trade moving within hours of an emergency.
"If al-Qaeda can damage us, either physically or economically, they win," Beatty said during the news conference.
"It would be foolish for us to assume that there will not be any further incidents along the border," Beatty added.
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