CEO Goldy Hyder says it is “deeply troubling” that the U.S. government has not reopened 13 Nexus enrolment centres, in a letter to David Cohen, the American ambassador to Canada, obtained by The Canadian Press.Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino has cited the principles of Canadian sovereignty in explaining why U.S. customs officers can’t have the same legal protections at Nexus centres that they do at airports and the border.Article content Hyder says in his letter to Cohen that he fears the dispute will hurt businesses whose employees do not already have a Nexus card and he strongly urges the ambassador to recommend reopening the enrolment centres.
His comments come on the heels of Canada’s envoy to the U.S. saying the program is being “held hostage” by unilateral American efforts to renegotiate the preclearance agreement between the United States and its northern neighbour. “There’s an attempt to renegotiate the terms of a 20-year-old program unilaterally and the program is being held hostage to that effort,” Kirsten Hillman told a symposium on the Canada-U.S. border hosted last week by the Future Borders Coalition.Share this article in your social network