OTTAWA — The Canadian Trucking Alliance formally brought its appeal for a more coordinated approach to the Canada-US border before the federal government this week, urging the creation of a cabinet committee to deal with such issues.

In an appearance today before the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade, CTA boss David Bradley recommended the committee be headed by a "specific ministerial or senior bureaucratic position with authority for all aspects of the border."

Bradley first floated a similar idea last year. In an interview with Today’s Trucking, he talked about his suggestion for a "border czar" — obviously an early, sort-of tongue-and-cheek title for someone Bradley envisioned would deal with U.S. border mandates and regulations, as well as act as a clear go-to source for the transport industry.

"Too many federal departments have had some stake or responsibility for some aspect of the border," says Bradley. "We have found it a challenge just to find out who’s who and to get the different people working together."

Bradley also made it clear that the current economic downturn is masking the "thickening" at the Canada-U.S. border.

Truckers are hoping Ottawa appoints a go-to
official responsible for bridging border issues across various depts.

"Even though carriers aren’t experiencing the extended border delays that frequently plagued cross-border shipments over the past several years, this should not be taken as evidence that all is well at the border, but simply that the level of cross-border truck traffic has fallen off sharply, reflecting the current economic recession."

Indeed, CTA argues that despite the drastic drop-off in volumes, border processing times have barely changed at all.

Bradley said he is "concerned that when the economy bottoms out, and we begin to see growth again, we will see a return to extended delays at the border."

With regard to widely reported comments made last week by the new secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, regarding the need for a "real" border between the United States and Canada, Bradley said: “Quite frankly, she did not say anything we did not already know. As Canadians, our concern should be what additional measures will be introduced on top of what has already been done over the past eight years to create that ‘real’ border."

At the same time, Canadians should also be looking in the mirror, he added, "making sure that as Canada rolls out measures such as an electronic truck manifest that we harmonize, to the extent possible, with the U.S, and that we don’t impose new requirements that will complicate, rather than simplify, the border crossing process."