The Province
OTTAWA — The Obama administration wants Canadians to pay to enter the United States to help ease that country’s desperate financial crunch.
A proposed “passenger inspection” fee is outlined in the draft 2012 U.S. federal budget that has been sent to Congress. If adopted, the charge is expected to be levied against millions of commercial air and marine travelers from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, the only nations now exempt from the fee, and generate $110 million annually.
The fee would not apply to automobile traffic.
#11 1873 Colt
It doesn’t seem to bother anyone else around here, so I guess I’m elected to say you, sir, are racist, traitorous scum.
I understand racism is pretty much accepted as normal by JCD when it comes to this particular President but doesn’t anyone else think traitorous scum should be tried and hanged – without delay?
Although $5.50 sounds like nothing and other countries do indeed have higher fees, we should put this into perspective:
Canada is the US’s largest trading partner by a long shot and the #1 source of foreign air traffic. Charging even a small entrance fee could be detrimental to cross border trade. 35 of 50 states call Canada their #1 trading partner, not each other state. Business and pleasure travel is a good part of that.
So please, don’t piss off the over-taxed Canadians. We need their money
#21 – Cut him some slack Reagan. Hes clearly still dealing with the culture shock of time traveling from 1873. He didn’t like the Escher “devil machine” either.
His racism would be quaint if it weren’t so dangerous.
#20 – I think it’s more the cost of fitting a row of turnstiles 5500 miles long.
$5.50 isn’t going to fix the US federal deficit.
Do all Canadians a favour, make it $55,000.00.
Sorry, the US has many, many nice people. But crossing the border is just no longer worth it.
stupid idea that will cost border cities like Buffalo and Detroit more than it will make for uncle O. How about hitting up the guys with the real money for a proportionate share to support the country that make their wealth possible. Just a thought.
The Canadians will pay, but how do you collect from the tunneling Mexicans, oh yea just planes and boats get taxed…no more canoeing on the Columbia.
Apparently a few MP’s from a couple of parties like the Obama Tax as it allows them to present a reciprocal arrangement to the US ambassador at their next meeting. Canada will charge $11.00 for Americans to come here and since there are roughly three times as many of them that visit Canada any given year, we will be ahead about $660 M. The guy in the previous comment figured that $5.50 should be worth @ a toonie so you do the numbers. Bonus. And I disagree with many of my American friends who are positive Obama is a synonym for TWIT. There are more descriptive approaches.
It’s outrageous to charge Canadian tourists anything to enter the U.S. considering the amount of money we spent while visiting. Perhaps $5.50 is but a token fee, but if we stayed home to protest the mere principle of it, the U.S. would stand to lose far more money in lost Canadian tourism because we are the most frequent visitors.
It simply isn’t good economic policy to drive away the tourism business of their nearest neighbour and largest trading partner when they desperately need it because their economy is an absolute wreck.
I thought the world of Obama at first but he’s made a lot of stupid mistakes. God forbid any of those psycho Republicans should get elected, however. I imagine the U.S. becoming something akin to Margaret Atwood’s Republic of Gilead if one of those religious zealots took over.