Canadian Bill C-21 could be delayed by shutdown in U.S.

The partial shutdown of the United States government could give Campobello Island more time to prepare for Bill C‑21, Mayor Stephen Smart suggests. Parliament passed the bill in December, but Smart and New Brunswick Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Greg Thompson hope the federal government will delay implementation to allow time to sort out how the bill would affect Campobello. The law allows Canadian and American border officers to share information on people leaving each country and allows the government to require reporting of goods to be exported. The bill comes into force, like most laws in Canada, on a date set by the federal cabinet.
The two countries need to negotiate regulations to put the law into effect, which is a problem with the United States government partially shut down due to a stand‑off between Congress and President Donald Trump over a wall on the Mexican border. "So it's not going to happen tomorrow, actually. They can't do that till the government is up and running fully," says Smart. He supports the request by Thompson to delay implementation.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale issued a statement this month saying there would be time for public comment on the regulations under the new law. "The claim that C‑21 will mean additional paperwork for those crossing the land border into the United States is completely false," Goodale wrote. "CBSA [Canada Border Services Agency] is always ready to provide further information, including briefings for elected officials or the media, as required."
The law allows Canada Border Services Agency to require reporting and to conduct examinations to crack down on smuggling of stolen vehicles, nuclear materials and other things not likely to affect Campobello Island. In his release, Goodale stated that the federal auditor general has called for better means to interdict smuggling.
Thompson, whose Saint Croix constituency includes Campobello Island, criticized New Brunswick Southwest MP Karen Ludwig for not attending parliamentary committee meetings dealing with Bill C‑21. Ludwig responded with an op‑ed piece calling Bill C‑21 a security measure "to better block individuals traveling to join a terrorist organization, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and human trafficking, while improving the speed and access of Amber Alerts."
Thompson and Smart worry about provisions that could require Canadian contractors, for example, to report on the way out of one country as well as on entry to the other. This could mean eight stops for someone travelling from St. Stephen to do business on Campobello Island -- at each end of the bridges from St. Stephen to Calais, then Lubec to Campobello Island, coming and going.
Thompson worries that electronic reporting of people leaving Canada could hurt people receiving employment insurance benefits. The law does not permit people receiving benefits to leave the country, but the authorities might not strictly enforce the rules if someone from St. Stephen took a brief shopping trip to Calais, he says. He worries that this could change with electronic reporting of people leaving Canada.
The perception of a thickening border could make parents and coaches think twice about taking sports teams to Campobello Island, Smart says. "We don't need any more barriers for Canadians to come and visit us."
Ludwig, in her op‑ed piece, agrees that Campobello residents face trouble travelling to and from the rest of Canada, but she says the answer is a year‑round ferry to the Canadian mainland providing an alternative to driving through Maine. "It is unacceptable that Canadians should have to cross an international border in order to get to mainland Canada. In a worst‑case scenario such as what occurred on 9/11, should the United States border be closed in the case of an emergency, the residents of Campobello would be cut off from the rest of New Brunswick and Canada. This is unthinkable," she says.
Smart and Thompson agree with their MP on this point, and the mayor notes that a consultant is scheduled to report to the rural community council on Monday, January 28, on a study funded by the federal government on establishing a year-round ferry to Campobello Island. However, getting a ferry and docking facilities in the water would take two to five years if the three levels of government decided today to do it, Thompson says. "This is not something that's going to happen in the short-term," he says.
In the interim, Canada should draft regulations under Bill C‑21 carefully with Campobello in mind, Smart and Thompson say. Ludwig and Goodale say this will happen. Thompson proposes extending East Coast Ferries' summer ferry to Deer Island into spring and fall, which could provide another interim option and allow people to get on and off Campobello Island without going through the United States. Smart says that, given New Brunswick's financial situation, his community might have to settle for a spring‑summer‑fall ferry that is possibly on‑call during the winter.