The Canadian Trucking Alliance is calling on the Prime Minister and provincial premiers to develop a joint action plan that improves border security by addressing red flags before they ever reach the border.
“All provinces, independent of federal regulations, have the power to send a strong message to Washington that you are securing your trucking transportation supply chain before these vehicles enter the United States. The trucking industry has provincial on-road inspection and audit enforcement systems that need to be more aligned in detecting and prosecuting immigration, labour, and illegal cargo shipment offenses,” says CTA president Stephen Laskowski.
CTA believes many of these can be implemented quickly, although some will vary slightly based on the regulatory and enforcement agencies in each jurisdiction.
Since the events of 9/11, the cross-border trucking industry and its supply chain partners have operated in a world where security – specifically, counter-terrorism – was the priority, while the facilitation of trade across the border was a secondary focus. Today, the Canada-U.S. border and supply chain faces new security threats. The trucking industry has a plan to adapt to this new security threat, which involves both federal and provincial jurisdictional authorities.
Trucks throughout Canada are inspected every day by provincial authorities, who also have the ability and systems in place to visit trucking company terminals. The current provincial system can be quickly adjusted to detect security threats,” said Laskowski. “Quite frankly these proposed changes are long overdue.”
On the federal front, CTA has been asking the federal government to make changes to immigration and joint US-Canada transportation security programs to ensure carriers participating in these programs are not abusing newcomers to Canada.
CTA also reminded the provincial and federal leaders that we should also be collectively looking at all future provincial and federal budgets as an opportunity to strengthen the business community in preparation for the possibility of US protectionist policies as a regular occurrence and not used only as a negotiating tactic to secure policy positions unrelated to trade.
“As a nation, we must treat threats of tariffs as a wake-up call. All levels of government must be collectively prepared to introduce budget measures that make our business community stronger and more economically competitive,” said Laskowski. “We need to be ready for a shifting business environment and therefore need a federal and provincial tax code, transportation policy, and labour code that is designed to make Canadian businesses more productive and competitive when tariffs are not just a bargaining chip.”