Staff
In response to concerns from the local Police Services Board about motorists cutting in line to get across the U.S. border and similar issues, town council will lobby both the provincial and federal government for help.
In a report from Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown, he said the Operations and Facilities executive committee held a lengthy meeting Nov. 17 and agreed that both levels of government have a financial and operational obligation that the border traffic line-up is managed and enforced in a safe and orderly fashion.
They also agreed municipal taxpayers have been paying 100 percent of the costs for these services and that financial assistance from upper levels of government is required.
The committee recommended Mayor Roy Avis write letters to local MPP Howard Hampton and local MP John Rafferty indicating the U.S. border line traffic concerns.
The letters will indicate the federal government’s Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) strategy—meant to facilitate efficient border traffic flow using technology—has never been deployed at the Fort Frances border crossing.
The letters also will state that additional financial resources are required from both levels of senior government to manage and enforce the annual U.S. border traffic line-up concerns.
Furthermore, the mayor will request that a meeting with both representatives be scheduled in the near future with council and administration to address all the associated concerns with the U.S. border traffic line-ups, as well as to develop an action plan to try to resolves these long-standing concerns.
