Custom facility talks don’t solve deadlock

Talks between Mayor Glenn Witherspoon and federal representatives yesterday did not end up solving the deadlock between the bridge owners and the town.
“I just re-iterated the stance of the majority of council,” said Mayor Witherspoon after the teleconference.
The town has demanded that the International Bridge and Terminal Company and the M. D. & W. Railway reveal any future increases before they approve the latest customs proposal.
“Nothing definite came out of [yesterday’s] conversation–the two parties are still talking and all people still want to find a workable solution to this,” said Hal Parker, the manager of capital construction for Canada Customs and Immigration.
As an agreement continues to stay out of reach, the possibility of an on-bridge facility remains. But it is a worst-case scenario according to Parker.
“We don’t believe there’s an on-bridge solution. It does not meet our requirements,” said Parker adding that there wouldn’t be enough room for the facility to keep up with federally legislated standards.
“I hope that we can come to an understanding before that. All parties are still trying to find a common ground,” said Parker.
He also noted that the federal government has no intention of expropriating land for the project and any perceived threat to do so was a misunderstanding.
“We would never get into expropriation in that situation,” he said, adding that doing so would set a precedent which would be extremely costly for the federal government.
Meanwhile, a group of local residents met at McDonald’s restaurant on Monday to discuss the bridge and related issues.
“They’re still keen,” said resident Cathy Richards who attended the meeting.
The group hopes to meet about twice a month to create a platform for their concerns with toll increases and ultimately to work on building up the pressure to build a new, public bridge.
“We are looking to a new bridge because it’s going to keep happening, we’re going to get more increases,” said Richards.
“The plan is to get a few more people involved,” she stressed.