NEXUS Air Expansion to Halifax Robert Stanfield International Airport
Remarks by
the Honourable Stockwell Day
Minister of Public Safety
Halifax, Nova Scotia
August 1, 2007
As delivered
Thank you so much, Diane [Diane Giffin-Boudreau, Regional DirectorGeneral, Canada Border Services Agency]. And Consul General Foster [Harold Foster, U.S. Consul General], it's great to have you here.
I met with your ambassador not too long ago in Ottawa for the 4th of July celebration. It was a small, intimate gathering at his house of about 3,000 people! Let me just say, we had a good time.
Thank you also to those who worked to pull all of this together.
If I could just do a little bit of an aside, I want to say a special word of thanks to our Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) people who are here and to all other for their diligence and their vigilance in keeping our borders safe.
That's really what this announcement is all about. We want to make sure that our border with our neighbours to the south is both secure and smart.
In a few days from now, Prime Minister Harper will be meeting with the U.S. President, Mr. Bush, and with the Mexican President. They will be discussing security and prosperity. They will be looking at what happens at our borders and seeing what can be done to make sure that our borders are as seamless as possible and as efficient as possible for low risk travellers and business.
But we also want to make sure our borders are closed to those people who would have harmful or negative designs upon our country, be it organized crime or terrorist activity, smuggling or contraband. We want to make sure that we have all the technology in place and the personnel in place to be able to stop that type of activity.
Our relationship at the border involves working together on the human personnel side and the technological side. One of the very significant technological gains that have been made allows for efficient access at the border for frequent travellers, low risk travellers, business travellers – really, anybody who wants to apply.
That program is called NEXUS. If you've applied, you can move through the borders process more quickly as you've already been screened for security and your identity has been verified. That's an example of smart and secure borders.
The Government of Canada has increased the resources at the border. We're in the process of hiring 400 more border officers from coast to coast.
We are also investing more than $430 million over five years for a series of initiatives based on the smart and secure border principle. This includes the electronic-Manifest program to allow for computer-automated risk assessments of cargo shipments before they reach Canada.
As for NEXUS, I'm pleased to say that Halifax is among the first five airports across the country to have the NEXUS kiosk program. I congratulate the airport authority here for their work on this matter. Also, it was just a few months ago that 24/7 service started being offered by our CBSA officers at this airport. That shows the intensity of the airport and how much it's being used. It also speaks to the good management at the Halifax Airport. More than that, Robert Stanfield Airport is known for its friendliness, its courteousness. I witnessed it myself when I was greeted here as I arrived.
So I want to congratulate everybody who has worked so hard on this project to make it a reality. I want to encourage Canadians everywhere to apply for your NEXUS card. The other advantage of this particular card is that it can serve the same purpose as a passport when going into the U.S. It has been accepted as one of the alternative documents for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).
As you know, our government has worked with our U.S. counterparts to have alternative documents for Canadians, other than passports, that meet the requirements of the U.S. WHTI program. The NEXUS card fits the bill. That card will allow you to get into the United States at air, land and marine ports without a passport.
The card, and if it sounds like I'm selling it, I am, costs $80 Canadian. And just as some of the wonderful tourist accommodations in this area advertise that kids eat free, your kids can get a NEXUS card free also. If one or more of the parents has a NEXUS card, they can apply at no charge. So we're doing everything we can to make sure our borders are smart and efficient, but also secure.
Thanks very much again to everybody who's had a part in making this program a success. Thank you.