Border Security

One issue of concern to Canadians has to do with the security of the US/Canadian border. Increased regulations and requirements for crossing the border has come into play in recent years due to policies implemented by the Bush Administration. Due to bureaucratic momentum the Obama administration is likely to implement the Bush policies (such as the requirement to have passports in order to cross the border etc) but will find ways to alleviate the burdens imposed by those policies.

Naturally, the Bush administration implemented the border crossing policies in response to the events of 9/11. However, many Canadians point out that none of the 9/11 hijackers entered the US from Canada. Every 9/11 hijacker entered the U.S. through a port of entry in the U.S. This may well be an overreaction by the Bush administration in the wake of the 9/11 attacks as was the case with the decision to go into Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11.

It should be noted that this is an economic concern of Canadians as well as several news reports have indicated that the new regulations have had a significant impact on cross border trade and economic ties.

In any case, sufficient momentum has been created with respect to the implementation of new border crossing requirements that the Obama administration, as noted above, will likely let the policies go forth but will try to find ways to alleviate them, especially in the area of trade. It should be interesting to see what adjustments the Obama administration makes in this regard.

On a personal front, things are going well up here and I continue to work downtown for the Law Foundation of Ontario and my contract is on an indefinite basis. The hearing officer position with the City of Oshawa has been placed on hold due to shrinking resources. I will have to go with the flow. In the meantime, I’m forging ahead with the martial arts business, which is a tough tough business as it is entirely dependent on marketing and advertising to attract customers. It’s been made even more tough as folks have, according to news reports, drastically reduced their discretionary spending. It doesn’t help that Oshawa is a GM town and of course, there is a great deal of uncertainty with regard to GM.

Also, I had cataracts surgery on my right eye last week and I’ve gotten very good results from it. No surgery needed for the left eye as it’s perfectly normal.