Push on for 24-hour status at Montana-Canadian border ports

Push on for 24-hour status at Montana-Canadian border ports

Tim Leeds, [email protected]

Members of groups tasked with coming up with ideas on how to justify 24-hour commercial ports of entry north of Havre and Turner said the only option is to open them 24 hours.

"We know the extended hours work. I think we need to stand up and say, we want it for 24 hours … ," Milvia Bauman, chair of the Medicine Hat, Alberta, regional chamber of commerce said during a meeting in Havre. "Never mind the extended hours. We know how that works."

The meeting, scheduled by Havre Mayor Tim Solomon several weeks ago to get the two groups working to upgrade Wild Horse and Turner ports together to discuss problems and ways to help each other, took a new focus after U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano indicated while she was in Havre last week that she was interested in a trial run.

Solomon co-chairs the Wild Horse Border Committee with Medicine Hat, Alberta, Mayor Norm Boucher.

Napolitano came to Montana and held the Havre meeting at the invitation of Montana's U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, a member of the Senate Homeland Security committee, and Max Baucus.

Paul Tuss, executive director of Bear Paw Development Corp., read a clipping from the Havre Daily News, provided by Havre Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Debbie Vandeberg, in which Napolitano said she was open to looking at a trial of a 24-hour status at Wild Horse over the next year while an extension of the duration of summer hours is made.

Wild Horse is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. over the summer, but from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the winter. Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Alan Barsin said the summer hours would be extended to Oct. 31 this year and next, and would start March 1 next year instead of the customary May 15.

Several people at Wednesday's meeting said that the only option is a trial of a 24-hour status.

"It's nice we extend the hours, but you will not get a true reading until it's open 24 hours," Boucher said.

Several said truckers and trucking companies simply will not go to a port if it is not open all day. Some at the meeting said they have long lists of Canadian firms that want the ports open 24 hours and with commercial status. The risk of having to turn back and find another port that is open is not worth it, they said.

"I think we need to stand up and say we need 24 hours … Never mind the extended hours, we want 24 hours," said Lisa Kowalchuk, executive director of the Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce.

Boucher said the trial, if it is not year-long, should definitely include the summer. The lack of a 24-hour port also cuts down on tourist traffic between Havre and Medicine Hat, he said.

But the key is commercial freight, several said.

Vandeberg said she has a list of a number of trucking companies wanting to support the effort to upgrade the port.

"They just need to be told what to do," she said.

Tuss said it is, in fact, the trucking companies that are helping drive the effort.

"It was a real-life example of private industry coming to the table and saying, 'we do need this open,'" Tuss said.

LaVar Payne, member of the Canadian Parliament from Alberta, said he also believes the study of the impact of extending the hours or going 24-hour needs to be lengthened.

"I think we really need to push for a two-year trial period," he said.

He also said that in past discussions with the Canadian border service, that it appears Canada would match American hours if the summer season is extended.

Bauman said she wants to push hard for the 24-hour trial. Baucus and Tester seem to be behind the trial, she said — during a press conference following the Havre town hall he also said it must be 24-hour or nothing — and Napolitano also seems interested.

"If she is behind it, we just need to get the Canadian government behind it," she said.

Payne said upgrading to the 24-hour status might not be too difficult, saying he was told that, for Canada, it would take about a million dollars a year to run a 24-hour station.

"That's a drop in the bucket," he said.

He answered a question from Tuss, saying that is not an additional $1 milllion, but the total annual expense per port.

"That's a half a drop in the bucket," Tuss said.

Members of groups tasked with coming up with ideas on how to justify 24-hour commercial ports of entry north of Havre and Turner said the only option is to open them 24 hours.

"We know the extended hours work. I think we need to stand up and say, we want it for 24 hours … ," Milvia Bauman, chair of the Medicine Hat, Alberta, regional chamber of commerce said during a meeting in Havre. "Never mind the extended hours. We know how that works."

The meeting, scheduled by Havre Mayor Tim Solomon several weeks ago to get the two groups working to upgrade Wild Horse and Turner ports together to discuss problems and ways to help each other, took a new focus after U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano indicated while she was in Havre last week that she was interested in a trial run.

Solomon co-chairs the Wild Horse Border Committee with Medicine Hat, Alberta, Mayor Norm Boucher.

Napolitano came to Montana and held the Havre meeting at the invitation of Montana's U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, a member of the Senate Homeland Security committee, and Max Baucus.

Paul Tuss, executive director of Bear Paw Development Corp., read a clipping from the Havre Daily News, provided by Havre Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Debbie Vandeberg, in which Napolitano said she was open to looking at a trial of a 24-hour status at Wild Horse over the next year while an extension of the duration of summer hours is made.

Wild Horse is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. over the summer, but from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the winter. Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Alan Barsin said the summer hours would be extended to Oct. 31 this year and next, and would start March 1 next year instead of the customary May 15.

Several people at Wednesday's meeting said that the only option is a trial of a 24-hour status.

"It's nice we extend the hours, but you will not get a true reading until it's open 24 hours," Boucher said.

Several said truckers and trucking companies simply will not go to a port if it is not open all day. Some at the meeting said they have long lists of Canadian firms that want the ports open 24 hours and with commercial status. The risk of having to turn back and find another port that is open is not worth it, they said.

"I think we need to stand up and say we need 24 hours … Never mind the extended hours, we want 24 hours," said Lisa Kowalchuk, executive director of the Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce.

Boucher said the trial, if it is not year-long, should definitely include the summer. The lack of a 24-hour port also cuts down on tourist traffic between Havre and Medicine Hat, he said.

But the key is commercial freight, several said.

Vandeberg said she has a list of a number of trucking companies wanting to support the effort to upgrade the port.

"They just need to be told what to do," she said.

Tuss said it is, in fact, the trucking companies that are helping drive the effort.

"It was a real-life example of private industry coming to the table and saying, 'we do need this open,'" Tuss said.

LaVar Payne, member of the Canadian Parliament from Alberta, said he also believes the study of the impact of extending the hours or going 24-hour needs to be lengthened.

"I think we really need to push for a two-year trial period," he said.

He also said that in past discussions with the Canadian border service, that it appears Canada would match American hours if the summer season is extended.

Bauman said she wants to push hard for the 24-hour trial. Baucus and Tester seem to be behind the trial, she said — during a press conference following the Havre town hall he also said it must be 24-hour or nothing — and Napolitano also seems interested.

"If she is behind it, we just need to get the Canadian government behind it," she said.

Payne said upgrading to the 24-hour status might not be too difficult, saying he was told that, for Canada, it would take about a million dollars a year to run a 24-hour station.

"That's a drop in the bucket," he said.

He answered a question from Tuss, saying that is not an additional $1 milllion, but the total annual expense per port.

"That's a half a drop in the bucket," Tuss said.