Relocate border to resolve bridge dispute

While the proposal to establish a temporary Canada customs facility on the north side of the north bridge in Cornwall may get the trans-border traffic moving again, it has several implications. Residents of Cornwall Island who are Canadian citizens and who wish to travel to Cornwall will have to pass through a Canada customs checkpoint. There are not too many countries where citizens have to pass through a customs checkpoint while traveling within their own country.

The Americans may hold the key to a long-term solution to the border dispute at Cornwall, and they may use international legal precedent to implement such a solution. In Ottawa and Washington, all the embassies are located on land that the host governments have designated as the sovereign territory of the guest nation. The U.S. embassy in Ottawa is located on U.S. sovereign territory while the Canadian embassy in Washington is located on Canadian sovereign territory.

While the U.S.-Canada border passes through the South Channel of the St. Lawrence River and across the southside international bridge, the U.S. government could move the border line on the southside bridge to within a few feet of the U.S. Customs office.

This would make most of the southside bridge Canadian territory. The U.S. could then designate a small parcel of land on the southwest side of the bridge as Canadian territory where a permanent Canada customs checkpoint may be built.

Many American businesses within 30 minutes of Cornwall have lost revenue due to the border closure. American government officials may just be willing to consider the commercial interest of American businesses in the area as they ponder a possible long-term solution to the border dispute, perhaps one based on the embassy precedent.

Harry Valentine

Cornwall, Ontario