Canada announces $368 million in border security programs
The bulk of the funding will go towards the developpment of an eManifest program for truckers and shippers; remaining money will support resumption of trade after an attack and help pay for the Partners in Protection program; move follws decision to arm border guards
Standing at the border crossing between Windsor and Detroit, Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day this week announced that his country would take a lead from the United States and invest a whopping $368 million over the next five years to protect its borders. Such a move was part of recently-elected Prime Minister Stephan Harper’s campaign platform, and comes after the governemnt announced a related plan to arm Canadian border guards.
According to the Associated Press, the largest bulk of the money, $337 million, would go towards an eManifest program that would help manage the tens of thousands of cargo trucks, planes, and ships that enter the country every day. Another $20 million will go towards planning for the immediate resumption of trade across the border in the event of a major emergency, and an additional $10 million will support the Partners in Protection program. Under that initiative, businesses and their employees help border agents voluntarily assist Canadian authorities in detecting and preventing contraband smuggling of drugs and weapons.
The new Canadian initiative is being developed in cooperation with DHS as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America agreement, launched in 2005 by then-Prime Minister Paul Martin, President Bush, and then-Mexican President Vicente Fox.
-read more in Beth Duff-Brown’s AP report
