From the Niagara Falls Review:
Despite what looks like a recent softening in Washington D.C., on the so-called passport requirement, Canadian political and business leaders need to keep pressing for change, says Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory.
Tourism operators in Canada celebrated two weeks ago after the U.S. Senate passed amendments to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, the policy that will require everyone, including American citizens, to show a passport or some other form of secure identification when entering the United States.
The amendments pushed the implementation date from Jan. 1, 2008 to June 1, 2009.
“Just because these amendments have got to where they’ve got to doesn’t mean the job is done,†Tory said Wednesday in Niagara Falls. “We have to keep making the case because it’s far from over.â€
Mayor Ted Salci hosted the roundtable meeting where Tory listened to the mayors of Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie, as well as representatives of the tourism industry.