Canadians: Don't Treat Us Like Mexico, Eh?

Officials in both [Canada and the U.S.] fear that President Bush's tough new measures on the Mexican border will increase calls for tighter restrictions . on movement over the bridges and highways leading in and out of Canada. Canadian officials already are trying to fight a U.S. plan to require a passport or a new identity card for travelers at the land border by Jan. 1, 2008 . . . While illegal immigration is the focus at the Mexican border, U.S. Homeland Security officials have complained that the largely unguarded Canadian border, stretching more than 5,000 miles across land and water, provides easy entry for terrorists and drug dealers. Canadians say guns and criminals flow north," the Washington Post writes. "Stockwell Day, the Conservative public safety minister, said the Harper government is trying to lessen the impact of the border restrictions. U.S. officials have proposed an identity document for American citizens that would be cheaper than a U.S. passport for use at the border, but have not yet worked out details."

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