(Ottawa) The Business Council of Canada is concerned about the continued closure of the Nexus Program for Low-Risk Travelers, which allows pre-screened travelers to receive expedited processing when entering the United States and Canada.
Posted at 7:57 pm yesterday.
In a letter to David Cohen, the US ambassador to Canada, copied to The Canadian Press, CEO Goldie Hyder said it was ‘deeply troubling’ that the US government had not reopened the registration of 13 centers for the Nexus program.
The two countries are at odds over a long-standing request by the US Customs and Border Protection Agency that its officers at nexus centers in Canada have the same legal protections they currently have at airports and other points of entry such as the Canada-U.S. border
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino cited the principles of Canadian sovereignty as to why US customs officials cannot access the legal protections at airports and the border at Nexus hubs.
In a letter to Ambassador Cohen, Mr. Haider said he feared the dispute would harm employees who do not yet have Nexus cards and asked Mr. Cohen to recommend reopening enrollment centers.
His comments came after Canada’s ambassador to the United States said the program was being “held hostage” by unilateral US efforts to renegotiate the preclearance agreement between the United States and its northern neighbour.
“There is an attempt to unilaterally renegotiate the terms of a 20-year-old program and the program is being held captive by that effort,” Kirsten Hillman said at a week-long Canada-US border symposium. Finally by the Future Borders Coalition.
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