Consulate should stay - Canadian office is critical to the needs of our growing cross-border trade

The closing of the Canadian consulate in Buffalo is a very troubling development.

President Obama’s effort to strengthen ties with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper manifested itself in the Harper-Obama Beyond the Border initiative, and now the implementation of that effort is at risk. This decision is extremely perplexing, to say the least.

The Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Western New York’s congressional delegation and everyone else upset by this decision are urging the Canadian government to reverse its course.

Canadian officials said the consulate is closing because of Canadian budget cuts and a change in immigration policy that now allows foreign nationals living in southern Ontario to make changes to their visas online instead of at the consulate in Buffalo.

The way in which the Canadian government has communicated this action makes no sense. No prior communication to anyone who would be affected by this decision, whether staffs who have worked for decades or communities along the border that interact so closely with the consulate.

The consulate has been an extraordinarily active, effective, hard-working, open-minded, smart partner for Western New York. Losing that partnership will be a major loss for this area.

There are two major cross-border areas east of the West Coast–Detroit and Buffalo. Both need a Canadian presence.

Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, both D-New York, along with Reps. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, and Kathleen C. Hochul, D-Amherst, signed a letter to Harper strongly urging him to reverse course and consider the negative effects of the closure. The letter stressed the importance of the consulate to cross-border trade, improvements being implemented by the recently signed Beyond the Border action and employment of Canadian and American citizens.

They are right in calling the consulate a symbol of the strong and enduring relationship between the two countries and between Western New York and southern Ontario. The closure will have a deep impact as the consulate, according to the letter, “helps cement a critical cross-border partnership that bolsters the local economy and ensures that tourism and trade can function smoothly for both Americans and Canadians.”

And, of course, there’s the implementation of the Beyond the Border initiative, meant to renew and strengthen relations.

Our shared border contains one of the busiest international crossings in the world. Roughly 30 percent of total U.S.-Canada trade crosses the border here, amounting to an estimated$470 billion in trade passing over the region’s four highway bridges and two railway bridges. And that’s not to mention the thousands of Americans and Canadians crossing to and from Western New York each day.

The Canadian consulate provides businesses the tools to better serve both countries and this region. The importance of the office and the Beyond the Border initiative cannot be understated. The Canadian government would do well to reconsider this disappointing decision.

Original Article
Source: buffalo news
Author: editorial