Remarks by U.S. Consul General John R. Nay

Announcement of Technically Preferred Location of the Plazas and Bridge for the New Border Crossing Between Windsor and Detroit Windsor, Ontario

18 June, 2008

The Hon. Lawrence Cannon Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities; Hon. Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety; Consul General John R. Nay, Jeffrey Watson, Member of Parliament for Essex-Windsor.

Thank you. I am so pleased to be able to join Minister Cannon, Minister Day, and MP Watson here this morning for this very important announcement. Ambassador Wilkins wanted to be here and asked me to pass along his regrets and his support for the effort.

As a native Michigander, and one with many Canadian relatives, I understand the critical importance of having border crossings that work. They are vital to both of our countries. I remember first crossing here, in to Windsor, as a young nine-year-old and the excitement of visiting a foreign country and learning more about Canada. For the past couple of years as the Consul General in Toronto I have focused on the border and the important role it plays in the economic prosperity of our two countries.

The United States and Canada are each others’ largest trading partner, with hundreds of billions of dollars in trade each year. And the Detroit-Windsor corridor handles fully a quarter of that cross-border trade. The United States, like Canada, supports projects such as the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) to improve infrastructure in the corridor and make sure that there is the capacity to handle increased trade and traffic.

This project is an outstanding example of the close cooperation between our two great countries to improve border crossings and infrastructure. In order for such projects to be successful, so many levels of government have to work together on both sides of the border to make sure it happens. On behalf of the Embassy and our entire Mission to Canada, I would like to commend the close cooperation that has brought us to this point. We have had a member of our staff who is a regular participant in the DRIC meetings and who often comments on the outstanding cooperation between the various levels of government on both sides of the border. We will continue to be an active supporter of such border improvement projects.

We are also working closely with our Canadian counterparts on several other projects to streamline the border. Last year I was privileged to join Minister Day at Pearson International Airport in Toronto for the inauguration of the NEXUS enrollment center there. Shortly thereafter, I had the privilege of coming here to the Windsor/Detroit crossing to get my own NEXUS card with the Mayor of Windsor, Eddie Francis. This is something I really find helpful in facilitating border crossings. And indeed I am happy to assure Minister Day that I did not “leave home without it.” I am a big believer in the NEXUS program and think it is one of the best programs we have to move people quickly and efficiently across the border.

Similarly, we have established programs like e-Manifest to streamline the movement of freight across the border. We encourage firms to enroll their drivers in the FAST program and to participate in C-TPAT, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Working together we can leverage technology and we can make the border smarter to facilitate the legitimate crossing of people and goods.

I would like to congratulate you once again on this effort and reiterate the U.S. Government’s support for projects like this that improve the border and help bring it into the 21st century.