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Home » Tourism Issues

(WHTI) Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative

Submitted by Kim on Wednesday, 16 January 200814 Comments

What is the WHTI? Well, if you ask most people in Canada the consensus would be that it is a paranoid reaction by American Homeland Security to the notion that the Canadian border is made of Swiss cheese. And that there are versions of Bin Laden behind every moose waiting to crawl through the porous 49th parallel.

In a nut shell it is a plan to make Canadians entering the United States have a valid passport thus negating the standard drivers license and other photo ID’s that have sufficed for generations. Many Canadians are outraged that the longest undefended border in the world is being “turned into the Berlin Wall.” Well, this is just an emotional kneejerk but it seems that, while the Europeans are softening up their borders the Americans are building a fortress.

This year the WHTI was supposed to be fait accompli however there have been several developments surrounding the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in the past month. In short the US House of Representatives has voted to amend the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Bill to delay implementation of WHTI until June 2009.

In the words of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada:

“The bill also included language to withhold $100 million in funding required to implement WHTI until the department has determined if driver’s licenses can be enhanced to meet WHTI requirements. The bill also requires the DHS to properly pilot its PASS card before making it publicly available.”

George W. wants to dump it

Just recently a Senate Appropriations Committee voted to recommend a seventeen month delay – until June of 2009 – before the land and sea implementation of WHTI takes place. The amended bill will go to the full Senate for vote enjoying a formidable coalition of bipartisan support. However, President Bush, it has been reported by insiders, is leaning toward vetoing the bill but not for the reason you might thing. George W. disagrees with the spending part of the bill.

Passport = Less Hassles

So, what should travelers to the U.S. do? Well, passports cost almost $90CDN but they save a lot of time and energy. I always had one whether I was traveling to Philadelphia or Berlin. Showing a passport always saved a lot of time at the airports and customs areas because there was a very good chance that a reservations agent in Austin, Texas or New Orleans had never seen a Nova Scotia drivers license before.

Be on the ball. Get a passport and let the politicians do what they will.

14 Comments »

White Point Manor Weblog - Vacation home at White Point Beach in Nova Scotia » American Tourists No Longer Canada’s Bread and Butter said:

[...] lifestyle attractions. But even these U.S. citizens are distracted by the new regulations like the WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative which requires not only Canadians to have special documentation but also American visitors. And [...]

- 27 January 2008 at 5:58 pm

foxnomad said:

A passport is a great means of identification while traveling international. It should be on your person at all times.

As far as the US border goes, an argument can be made for the current system to stay in place. This works in the EU who is under a bigger risk of international terrorism, illegal immigration, and has strict laws on the deportation of either.

- 30 January 2008 at 7:11 am

White Point Manor Blog - Nova Scotia, Tourism, and Travel Issues » Where Are the Line-Ups? said:

[...] January 31st the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative kicked off a new era in Canada-U.S. relations requiring all air traffic to have valid passports and [...]

- 1 February 2008 at 7:12 am

Happy Hotelier » Blog Archive » Travel Blog Carnival Week 3, 4, 5 and 6 said:

[...] WHTI Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative by Kim of White Point manor Blog [...]

- 12 February 2008 at 4:24 am

White Point Manor Blog - Nova Scotia, Tourism, and Travel Issues » How Was The Border? said:

[...] writing my bit on the new WHTI rules I was a nutcase about details such as photocopying 2 of every form – tickets, Park/Jet, car rental [...]

- 17 February 2008 at 6:34 pm

Paroshep said:

Just as airport security checks, its all bureaucratic “make work” so that government appears to be doing something. Effectiveness is not a criteria.

- 22 February 2008 at 8:52 am

Fast Vacation Rentals for Rent by Owner said:

I think this is one of the stupidest things ever. What makes me even more mad is how easy it is to get into Canada. Getting into Canada is easy and then you can cross over into the United States without checking into the customs at any water way. This seems to me a very big security issue but so far nothing has been done about it. We need to protect our waterways more or were going to get screwed down the road.

- 13 June 2008 at 12:33 am

EZ Rent a Car said:

Traveling with a passport definitely saves a lot of confusion when entering the border. It is safer than carring around different documentation and is a quicker way for officials to tell the validity of the citizenship. In today’s world we just have to take more security precautions than before!

- 13 June 2008 at 2:30 pm

London Sightseeing Tours said:

Within the UK a passport is generally one of the first things you get at a young age and you spend so much of your life travelling across Europe that its almost unheard of not to have a passport now. It still amazes me that so many US citizens do not have a passport… there really is so much of the world to see.

- 21 July 2008 at 2:25 am

Venus Facts said:

President Bush is really really *%&$, haha I bet he doesn’t even know what the bill is about. I agree with a lot of you guys, if you plan to travel get a dang passport. It saves a lot of time at the airport and you can use it to travel pretty much anywhere. I mean come on carry one passport and spend some time to get it, or carry around your whole file cabinet with all your documentation in it.. Hehe the choice is easy, get a passport and save everyone some time!

- 8 September 2008 at 9:09 pm

Branson Condos said:

Maybe things will be better for all of us now that Bush is gone and Obama is here.
That being said, it’s pretty easy to get into Canada anyway. So all of the non-sense attempts at homeland “security” are futile.

- 6 March 2009 at 11:44 am

Kim (author) said: