O, Canada!

I'm writing this from a place called Northern New York.

Northern New York is not an official subdivision of the Empire State, of course. It's just a concept, basically the region which is north of Central New York, and west of the Adirondack Mountains.

There is no spot in Northern New York that, as the goose flies, is more than about 50 miles from Canada.

Many of us in NNY had Canadian ancestors. Six of my eight great-grandparents came from Canada.

I'm writing because of a proposal to require US citizens visiting Canada to provide a valid passport in order to return to this country.

This is supposed to be an anti-terror provision to prevent the bad guys from getting into our country via the US_Canadian border. Personally, I think it was proposed because Bush is pissed that Canada refused to join his coalition against Iraq.

The border with Canada is the longest unguarded border in the world. It's been nearly 200 years since a shot has been fired in anger between these two countries. Canada is one of our primary trading partners, even though is has a population which is smaller than several US states. Up until now, it has been possible to venture in and out of Canada with no more Identification than a birth certificate or driver's license, and most of the time, this was not even required of most returning visitors, just an oral affirmation that one was a US citizen.

I guess with enemies of the US trying to invade us, one car at a time, it's important that the government guys on the border know who it is that they're letting in. I just think it's stupid to require us to carry a passport.

A New York State driver's license, or the equivalent non-driver ID requires that the applicant meet stringent identification requirements already. The license has a photograph of the individual, and high-tech anti-tampering devices included in its design. Anyone who wants to drive into Canada needs one anyway.

The point is that most of our visits to Canada are spontaneous ones, or casual ones.

In the past 40 years, members of my family have visited Canada for many reasons. We have gone there for weddings, for funerals, to shop, to gamble, to watch major league baseball and hockey games, and so our kids could participate in youth baseball and scouting events. We have seen concerts there, researched our genealogy, seen stage productions of "Miss Saigon" and "The Phantom of the Opera". We have visited the National Museums in Ottawa, and have even flown out of Toronto airport. We have taken out-of-town friends on 1000 Island cruises, to see the spectacle of Old Fort Henry, or on fishing trips across the border. Friends have gone on hunting trips in Northern Quebec.

Sometimes we just drive down to Cape Vincent in order to ride the ferries to Kingston, have dinner, and drive back.

The requirement of a $100 passport for each traveler in the car will certainly put an end to all of that. The economic impact on our friendly neighbor to the North will be a tremendous one. And those things always have repercussions. Without all those US dollars coming in, Canadians will have less to spend HERE.

Congratulations to Congressman McHugh for staying on top of this requirement and fighting to eliminate it. I hope that all the border congressmen are doing the same. I hope that ALL of congress will consider all of this and take the steps needed to eliminate this stupid rule.

As McHugh pointed out, what needs to be done is to further strengthen the reliability and security of all state driver's licenses.

The purpose of terrorism is to disrupt the everyday life of people. A disruption like the one proposed would be a victory for terror. Don't let that happen.