The MP for Windsor West says a recent border conference in Washington has highlighted some initiatives to improve crossings across North America.
Brian Masse also says a recent advertisement by the Ambassador Bridge Company calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to revoke the American permit to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge was part of the conversation.
Masse calls it misleading and says it may backfire on the Ambassador Bridge because some companies that use that span are now pushing for the new public bridge.
"These are the businesses that use the Ambassador Bridge and other businesses that have done work with them over the years. [They] are supporting our initiative to get a new border crossing," says Masse.
The Ambassador Bridge commercial misleads the public by saying the new span will be Canadian-made and Canadian-owned, will only use Canadian steel, and only employ Canadian workers.
Masse says he also drove home the issue that border communities need to be involved in border consultations.
Masse says there is new technology coming to speed up crossings, but that comes with some privacy risks and that's why he's working on a new digital bill of rights.
"There's a recognition that this has to be solved, because there's plenty of opportunity for high-tech and other solutions, but recognizing that privacy and data information need to be fully insured," he says.
Masse says American Customs policies are misguided, extreme, and focus too much on detaining innocent people instead of criminals.
"Think about the amount of time, energy, money and effort that went to that type of non-sense versus a real security threat or real smuggling or real counterfeiting," Masse says.
