On poor representation

CanWest reports that the U.S., having failed utterly in its plan to design an alternative to passports for Canada/U.S. travel, will instead impose a full passport requirement next year for travel by air or sea:

In a regulatory analysis of proposed rules that are slated to go into effect Jan. 8, 2007, government officials write that "there is not sufficient time" to properly develop and produce a new piece of identification the size of a credit card an "alternative passport" that could meet all the standards necessary to secure the U.S. border...

The proposed requirements, published Friday by the Department of Homeland Security, require Canadians to present a passport, Merchant Mariner Document or Nexus Air Card when crossing the Canada-U.S. border. Currently, they must only show a driver's licence or birth certificate.

As emphasized by CTV, the U.S. wasn't entirely unwilling to delay implementation of the new requirements. But with the Cons spending more time pushing to force the U.S.' schedule on Canada than to pressure the U.S. to hold off until it has a complete plan in place, the 2007 pause will only be for a single week.

Mind you, the Cons are apparently claiming to have changed tactics belatedly. But judging from Stockwell Day's latest comments, the new stance couldn't be much more tepid:

"There is room within the U.S. legislation to have a delay or a pilot project at some point or region to see how a new card would work," (Day) said. "We're asking for that kind of consideration, but we respect the rule-making and law-making process."

Compare Day's meek suggestion to the active effort from a large group of legislators (including the majority of the U.S. Senate who have already voted to hold off on implementation) and businesses on both sides of the border supporting the view that the restrictions shouldn't be pushed forward without some semblance of a plan. Sadly, the group holding the strongest position from which to defend Canada's interests is once again ignoring a long list of allies and refusing to take a meaningful stand. Which can only encourage the U.S. to keep blindly pushing forward rather than considering the consequences of its lack of planning.