The official opening of the new Canada Customs and Immigration facility here last Wednesday morning marked a small success in the ongoing battle to make the port-of-entry an asset to the local economy.
“With a new location, modern facilities, and technology upgrades, the Fort Frances border crossing is equipped to provide more efficient services to the travelling public and commercial traffic,” said local MP Robert Nault, also the minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, who was one of many guest speakers on hand for the ceremony.
Other speakers included Fort Frances Mayor Glenn Witherspoon, Ontario NDP leader and local MPP Howard Hampton, Lysanne Gauvin, assistant commissioner of the Northern Ontario region for Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, and Irene Bader, director general of Citizenship and Immigration Canada for the region.
The new facility, which actually opened to the public back on Feb. 14, doubled the number of traffic lanes from two to four and added computer systems to help streamline commercial shipments.
The impetus for the change can be traced back to the annual meeting of the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce in Thunder Bay back in 1996, where a resolution was drawn up and passed in support of an upgraded port-of-entry here to alleviate long lineups and poor service.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank Mike Behan [Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce president at the time] who prepared and wrote the resolution to start the process,” said Nault.
“People like Mike played small but important roles in getting this project started.”
Mayor Witherspoon called the improvements “something that is long overdue.”
“We have to utilize it and make it the greatest port it can be,” he added.
Security concerns at all U.S. border crossings since Sept. 11 also were alluded to during the opening. The U.S.’s new attention to security has the potential to derail any efficiency improvements the new facility has made.
“Of the 100 million people who cross the border every year, two million are identified for screening by Immigration,” said Bader.
Noting this number is expected to dramatically increase since Sept. 11, possibly causing long delays, she stressed the new facility here still will “improve the balance between security and the convenience of the everyday traveller.”
In his remarks, Hampton characterized the new facility as a good starting point for the economic growth of the area.
“It’s a project we can build upon,” he said, stressing that the “projects that arise out of this are also worth doing.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
