Niagara South MP Fred Davies is urging the federal government to move forward on deploying state-of-the-art screening technology at the Peace Bridge so that it can play several important roles, including reducing congestion and increasing border security.
Since being elected more than nine months ago as Niagara South’s representative in Ottawa, Davies has spoken about this issue in the House of Commons, at Committee, and he has written to the minister responsible, all to no avail.
According to Davies, the project, known as the Peace Bridge Pre-Arrival Readiness Evaluation (PARE) project, has been stuck in neutral for years.
The Trudeau government committed millions of dollars to the project, but the ball is currently in the court of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to actually green light the operational phase of the project. The U.S. government has also committed some $30 million taxpayer dollars to see this project completed.
Davies says this kind of technology has been deployed all across the United States and is incredibly effective in detecting stolen cars and trafficked goods, such as guns.
Not only would this technology make crossing the border faster, but Davies also believes it would put a massive dent in criminal activity and help solve the stolen car epidemic.
According to Davies, the infrastructure is already built.
Davies spoke to this issue in the House of Commons last fall:
“For over a year now, this infrastructure has lain unused at the base of the Peace Bridge and the scanning equipment has sat in storage somewhere in Baltimore, waiting for the Canadian government to live up to its end of the bargain.”
By living up to its end of the bargain, Davies means having the CNSC green light the operational phase of the project, much like the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) has already done on the American side of the border.
The technology offers major benefits, including expediting trade, making travel safer, lowering emissions and reducing commercial congestion, among others.
It could also be a proof of concept, according to Davies, whereby if this PARE technology were to be deployed at the Peace Bridge and prove successful, which it has all over the U.S., it could be used at other border crossings so that the benefits could be spread across the region and the country.
Particularly since the Trump administration is so concerned about border security, and since the Carney government has promised to step up Canada’s game on that file, Davies feels approving PARE is a no-brainer.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
