(OTTAWA) The Business Council of Canada says it is concerned about the continued closure of the Nexus program for low-risk travelers, which allows pre-screened travelers to receive expedited processing when entering the United States and Canada.
Posted yesterday at 7:57 p.m.
In a letter to David Cohen, the US ambassador to Canada, copied to The Canadian Press, CEO Goldy Hyder says it’s ‘deeply disturbing’ the US government hasn’t reopened 13 centers registration for the Nexus program.
The two countries are at odds over a long-standing request by the US Customs and Border Protection Agency that its officers inside Nexus centers in Canada have the same legal protections that they currently operate at other points of entry such as airports and the Canada-US border.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino cited the principles of Canadian sovereignty when explaining why US customs officers cannot enjoy the same legal protections at Nexus centers as they do at airports and at the border.
In his letter to Ambassador Cohen, Mr. Hyder says he fears the dispute could harm companies whose employees do not yet have Nexus cards and he urges Mr. Cohen to recommend the reopening of enrollment centers .
His comments come after Canada’s envoy to the United States said the program was “held hostage” by unilateral US efforts to renegotiate the preclearance agreement between the United States and its northern neighbour.
“There is an attempt to unilaterally renegotiate the terms of a 20-year-old program and the program is being held hostage by that effort,” Kirsten Hillman said at a week-long Canada-US border symposium. last by the Future Borders Coalition.