Daily Archive for September 27th, 2006

U.S. to delay border plan delay

Published
by
Graham
on September 27, 2006
in Niagara Falls News
. 4 Comments

From the National Post:

The U.S. Congress took a major step yesterday toward delaying controversial travel rules that will require Canadians to carry a passport or equivalent document when entering the United States across land and maritime borders.

With fears mounting that the rules will cripple cross-border trade and devastate border communities, negotiators from the Senate and House of Representatives cut a deal to postpone the plan by 17 months, from Jan. 1, 2008, until June 1, 2009.

The move, still subject to final ratification, marks a potentially significant victory for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Only last week, he warned that the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was poorly thought out and “threatens to divide” Canada and the U.S. just as bilateral relations were on the mend. Ottawa has been pressing U.S. lawmakers to delay the plan or risk billions of dollars in bilateral trade.

Tories axe GST rebate

Published
by
Graham
on September 27, 2006
in Niagara Falls News
. 0 Comments

From the Niagara Falls Review:

The $34-rebate cheque Akron, Ohio, residents Betty and Carlo Palmieri will receive after their weekend getaway to Niagara Falls doesn’t make or break them.

But it is a nice bonus for the retirees, who travel to the city every year.

“Actually, we bought other stuff with that rebate,” Betty said outside Niagara Duty Free Tuesday afternoon as they made their way home.

“It’s not much, but it does give us more money to spend while we’re here,” Carlo agreed.

To get a rebate of $34, the Palmieris would have spent $575 on accommodation and take-home items, both of which qualify for the GST rebate.

Things like food and gas - items consumed while in Canada - aren’t part of the program.

With only a few weeks left in the final part of the 2006 tourist season, this will be the last summer tourists will be able to claim their federal tax back as they return home.

On Monday, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Treasury Board chairman John Baird announced $1 billion in programs would be scrapped over the next two years as the government works to reduce its debt load.

Tourism sector thrilled over possible ID delay

Published
by
Graham
on September 27, 2006
in Niagara Falls News
. 0 Comments

From the Niagara Falls Review:

While tourism operators decry Ottawa’s plan to scrap the GST rebate for visitors, they are celebrating word out of Washington the much-dreaded passport issue could be put on hold for 17 months as early as Thursday.

“We had better news out of Washington today than out of Ottawa,” Ontario Minister of Tourism Jim Bradley said Tuesday.

Bradley has been a voice in the chorus of Canadian and American legislators and business and tourism insiders against the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which will require Canadians to have a passport when they enter the United States and Americans to have passports when they return home.