CORNWALL, Ontario – Cornwall’s mayor is warning it could be “years” before border agents operating in the city move to the U.S. under a new security agreement signed between Canadian and American officials this week.
Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy warned that the Canada Border Services Agency has already spent time and money on creating an interim port of entry within city limits.
CBSA has not said anything specific with regard to the Cornwall border crossing, and O’Shaughnessy is not bracing for an imminent announcement.
“They’ve invested quite a bit of money in the building they have right now,” he said. “This may not be a priority area…and the implementation could take years and years.”
The United States and Canada signed a major security agreement this week that will allow border patrol agents from both countries to work across the border. It also expands pre-customs clearance — going through customs before you even get to the border — to people traveling on roads, ships, and trains.
Critics of the current border crossing setup in Cornwall, with an interim CBSA checkpoint at the bottom end of Brookdale Avenue near the St. Lawrence River, have suggested that moving the Canadian operation to the U.S. – where there is more room – would solve congestion problems in Cornwall and ease border wait times.
North Country Public Radio (NCPR) in the U.S. reported this week the agreement could make crossing the border more efficient, especially in Cornwall because CBSA agents could operate out of Massena.
“Anybody who has crossed that crossing knows it is a very tight, landlocked situation they have on the Cornwall side which just doesn’t have the space to adequately build facilities to process trucks let alone growing volumes of traffic,” Garry Douglas, chair of the North Country Chamber of Commerce, told NCPR this week.
Chris Kealey, a media representative with CBSA, referred all calls to Public Safety Canada.
Josee Sirois, a spokesperson for Public Safety Canada was not immediately in a position to comment on the matter.
Nearly two years ago CBSA officials who visited city hall to update councillors on the Cornwall border crossing were grilled about the future of the local crossing.
When pressed by some councillors for a timeline to complete the negotiations under the so-called “Beyond the Borders” plan, CBSA officials could offer nothing concrete.
“It’s hard to put a year on it,” said Arianne Reza, a regional national director with CBSA. “Negotiations are ongoing.”
Reza, at the time, pointed out that it was years the CBSA operated interim home at the base of the Seaway International Bridge in Cornwall at the traffic circle that frustrated city motorists – suggesting the local file will move slowly before a decision is made.
